Fractured Time
by emptyvoices
Summary: Lost in Time, Sara Thomas finds herself transplanted in Victorian England with Shae Orr from the story, Shae. Despite their attempts to be elusive, their presence is made aware to the Eleventh Doctor who sees in them an entirely new threat to the universe he hasn't yet conceived. Co-written by Azaadin and emptyvoices. Please read Azaadin's Shae and emptyvoices, Lost in Time.
1. Adrift

**Author's Note: **This is a co-authored/co-written story by emptyvoices and Azaadin, which combines characters from Lost in Time and Shae. If you haven't read Shae, it's wonderful and it's two chapters long but you'll love it! This is actually my first attempt at writing Eleven solely although Azaadin has more of an affinity and practice for him, I think but I hope you'll give it a chance You'll need to read both Lost in Time and Shae to follow along but that's really it. This is an unrelated work to Living Fiction and Worlds within Worlds or takes place in a very different universe.

"But something more is happening Doctor." The Ood told him. "The Master is part of a greater design, because a shadow is falling over creation. Something vast is stirring in the dark. The Ood have gained power to see through time, because time is bleeding. Shapes of things once lost are moving through the veil, and these events from years ago threaten to destroy this future, and the present, and the past."

"What do you mean?"

"The end of time itself." Sara muttered at the same time as the Ood. The Doctor glanced down at her momentarily before pulling her out of the ice cave and in the direction of the TARDIS. She had difficulty catching her breath as she tried to maintain her sprint admitting only to herself that her stamina had been weakened during her rigors of self-deprivation. She was pulled through the door where she sank into the jump seat as the Doctor began to input commands into the navigational system. "You have to go earlier." She pleaded. "I've seen it already. You'll be late and Lucy will already be dead."

His expression became calculating as he rapidly input commands on the directional unit mainframe in order to accomplish the task while activating the dematerialization sequence. The ride was a turbulent one and she nearly fell out of her seat until it came to an abrupt end. The Doctor stumbled too in his position. Sara wondered whether she would ever get used to the sensation and how his companions ever did. She started to rise to her feet hoping only to glimpse and see if they made it in time so that Lucy Saxon could possibly survive. Distantly, she heard a clatter on the floor as an object rolled against her ankles. In curiosity, she bent down to investigate to realize it was a sonic screwdriver. Her eyes widened as she looked back at the Doctor. He had not paid any notice to what occurred and quickly Sara snatched the device, hiding it within the depths of her coat just before the Doctor approached her.

She was taken by surprise when the Doctor suddenly took her wrist and she felt something cold and metallic click into place. "What are you doing?" She yanked her hand back to see a silver bracelet fastened in place as she glanced back at the Doctor suspiciously.

"Insurance." He answered flatly. He hoped it wouldn't be necessary but Sara had attempted to escape him far too many times for his taste. Her last suicide attempt ruled out the possibility of leaving her alone for an extended period of time and he hadn't lied to her when he informed her about not making the same mistake twice.

"I don't under-" Sara started to say but he was already pulling her outside and she could see the familiar outline of the prison as it arched towards the night sky. _Night. It's still night. We're not too late. _

She attempted to make her may forward as an explosion suddenly rocked the ground as she fell back stunned to see fire consume the entire building. "No," She gasped. "We have to help her." Sara said in desperation as she clambered to her feet moving forward. It was a ridiculous notion but the Master had survived and maybe if they just reached her in time…

"Sara, stop."

"She could still be alive." She wasn't thinking clearly as she headed towards the smoke filled entrance. _He just left her to rot in there. What was it all for? _Her journey towards the prison was suddenly cut drastically short as she felt a throbbing pulse emanate from her wrist springing through the rest of her body like an electrical current and she gasped in panic while in response a sudden burst of energy seemed to surge through her in connection to the electrical discharge she felt from the bracelets. Bright light appeared to rip right through her as she suddenly screamed in agony.

"Sara!" The Doctor called out making his way towards her but he realised his mistake too late. The bangles he had forced her to wear had caused a rapid, localized depolarization. A crack in the very fabric of reality was starting to form and the Doctor yanked out his sonic in his attempt to seal it.

Too late. Far too late. As quickly as the light came, it disappeared. Trees, plants, even a park bench was ripped away by the time he reached the spot. So was someone else whom he realised now, he had simply just taken for granted or merely as a burden. "Sara!" He shouted as he gazed at the barren ground in horror at once suddenly desolate and alone.

His companion was suddenly gone. _She's…_the thought stuck in his mind as he was frozen on the ground in front of the raging inferno, unable, incapable of moving. He could only stare at his hands imagining the blood, her blood adding to the insurmountable pile of corpses that his mind so carefully tallied in his head struggling to overcome the horrific wave of despair he wanted so much to suppress.

Amidst the wreckage and the ashes falling from the flames, he tried to find his way to his feet.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"My head." Sara groaned as she blinked her eyes opened feeling the frigid air come to greet her. She found herself in an alley and dazed she stared at her surroundings. Cobblestones, the air shrouded with fog and people walking to and fro just in front of her in nineteenth century attire. _Is this a dream?_

"Miss?"

She looked to see some variation of a police officer bending over her in examination. "Miss, can you hear me? You all right there?" He seemed circumspect at her attire. "Did someone lay hands on you and steal your dress?"

"I….." Sara looked at him confused, hardly knowing what to say. "I don't know. Where….where am I?"

"London. Directly off the Strand." He looked at her warily. "Taken leave of your senses? Were you an inmate at Bedlam?"

Bedlam. Sara knew what that was. A mental hospital that only ran until the early twentieth century.

"No." Sara managed. "I think…" She paused. "I fell." She took a deep breath. "My head. It just hurts and as for my clothes…" She couldn't think of a reason to explain their fundamental difference.

The officer's face relaxed moderately. "It seems ruffians might have absconded with them. It would be my pleasure to assist you to Scotland Yard for you to file a report." It was strange that the girl still had her jewelry intact since that alone would merit a small fortune but perhaps he had interrupted the robbers at just the right time.

Sara looked at him reluctantly as the officer continued with a gentler tone. "I believe my wife has clothing that I keep on the premises that would suit you."

"I…" She pressed her lips together. "Thank you. I am grateful." She glanced at her surroundings as the officer offered her his hand to assist her to her feet. "It is hard to remember…" Sara told him as tears came to her eyes.

"An advert can be posted." The officer promised. "I am quite certain your family is very concerned as to your whereabouts."

_Doubtful. _She thought as he led her out onto the street. Victorian London. Late nineteenth century judging by the bustles Sara saw the women wearing who looked upon her with an expression she could only term as scandalized. The officer quickly removed his coat, putting it around her shoulders and looked at the crowd who merely stopped to gawk.

"This young lady just endured a brutal attack." He said sternly. "Now everyone, be on your way."

Sara looked at him surprised but filled with gratitude as he continued to escort her to the station while straight away taking her to a dressing room to change into his wife's attire. Although simple with a high neck white blouse, a black skirt and a cloak for warmth, to Sara she looked utterly refined. Her jewelry, she secreted in the pockets of the skirt as she returned to the questions the officer was pressing for answers.

It was by all means, a difficult session. She attested to a form of amnesia but inferred that the story of an attack was an accurate one. When it was finally over, the officer escorted her out of the building, a look of regret in his eyes. "I'll take to posting adverts in due course but in the interim…" He pressed a series of pounds in her hand. "This should be enough to afford you London rooms for a fortnight until we find your family."

"I…." Sara was moved by his generosity. "I thank you, Mr. Bennett. You will be repaid. Have no doubt in that." She had garnered his name through the course of their conversation and somehow, she knew would repay the simple kindness he had shown her.

"Let me know if you require any further assistance." He said and Sara nodded before they parted ways as she headed down the street. As preoccupied as she was with her thoughts over her predicament, she didn't notice the figure she nearly ran headlong into while turning a corner.

_Jenny. _Sara stared at the girl with sudden recognition who looked at her briefly in surprise.

"Oh, pardon me, miss." Jenny said as Sara managed to nod, standing stock still while the girl circumvented her to walk in the opposing direction. Glancing up at the sky, she took a deep breath. _He's here. _She thought. The Doctor was up in the clouds feigning indifference but was it her Doctor or….? Sara swallowed. What was she going to do? She was out of time and she knew she lacked the desire to remain what was left of her existence in this era that didn't have a favorable opinion towards women. Revealing herself to the Doctor…that had a share of risks. All the memories of the suffering she endured at his hands raced through her mind.

So preoccupied was she that she nearly tripped over another woman, only semi conscious on the ground in similar attire for which Sara too had arrived in. Amazed, Sara looked at her as she knelt on the ground. Could she have traversed from another reality by accident or just simply through time? Still, she was the closest to everything that seemed to resemble home.

Gently, she took the girl's arms, instantly noticing how cold she was. "Hey, are you okay?" She gave a little shake. "Come on. Just talk to me."

"My son." The woman mumbled. "Can't find him. Do you know where he is?" She appeared utterly disoriented. "Just left him in the backyard and then…" She seemed to gasp as her eyes started to roll back in her head.

"No, wait." Sara tried. "Just stay with me. Wake up." Her voice was firm as she was filled with empathy. If she was ripped away from her universe before it was destroyed and didn't know….Sara felt tears come to her eyes. "I'll help you but you need to keep talking. Need to…" Her pleas suddenly ended, as she was astounded to see her skin starting to luminesce and a veil of vibrant blue energy emanated to the surface. The particles began to float off her, transferring to the girl directly in front of her who suddenly let out a gasp. Her breathing appeared to be less staggered but suddenly light shot out all around them burning through the nearby alley wall causing debris to scatter as holes were melted into various waste receptacles.

Startled by the chaos, Sara yanked her hands away and all at once, the noise ended. Distant flames started to flicker as the woman in front of her opened her eyes looking at Sara hazily. "Who are you?"

"I'm…" Sara paused, astounded by the havoc that had been caused before taking a deep breath. "I'm Sara Thomas. Are you…" She was about to ask if the woman was from another reality but having just regained consciousness, decided the shock of such a question should be kept until later. "What is your name?"

"Shae, I'm…" The woman hesitated, suddenly noticing Sara's clothes. "What are you wearing? Is this a LARP?"

"A what?" Sara asked, surprised by the question.

The woman – Shae – was studying the damaged alley as she answered. Her voice sounded distant as though her thoughts were otherwise occupied. "Live Action Role Play. My brother LARPed every second Saturday." Shae turned her narrow blue-grey eyes back to Sara and continued speaking without waiting for a response. "Can you get me out? I need to find the police. I can't –" She choked on her words.

"I'm sorry, I'll help you," Sara promised, "but the police can't. This isn't a _LARP_." The word felt unfamiliar in Sara's mouth. "This is Victorian London."

"Yes, I can see that," Shae groused. "Where's the exit? I need to find… Home. I need to get home."

Sara could see the woman trembling with emotion – no, she was shivering. She quickly unclasped her cloak and threw it around Shae's shoulders. She internally nodded to herself – the cloak would keep her warm, and also protect them from the public's mortified stares at her immodest clothing.

"Thank you," came the murmured response as the woman drew the cloak tight.

"Come on, Let me help you." Sara reached out for the other, careful not to touch her skin again after what happened the last time. Holding her by the shoulders, she helped Shae as she staggered to her feet. Shae was a little taller than Sara, but the cloak still fell comfortably to her ankles.

The two women slowly set off down the cobbled street together. Quickly thinking through the needs of the other, Sara made a vague plan of action. First a café, or equivalent, they both needed a warm drink and some hot food in this chill, and then they could buy Shae some warm period clothing. After that, they could begin determining a way to return to the future. Sara glanced at the cloaked woman again. Was she from the future or…

"What happened to you?" she asked gently.

Shae shivered, but it wasn't from the cold. "I don't know. I was at home, and then…" Her voice trailed off and she shook her head, as though she was trying to displace the cobwebs within. Suddenly, her eyes shot around the street wildly once more, and her fingers nervously toyed with her lip. "Jesse," she whispered. "I can't find _Jesse_! He's only two! I just left him for a second! _Where is he?!_ What if something happened to him?!" Sara could hear the desperation in her voice.

"Were you both at home alone?" Sara asked, worrying for the little boy.

"No, my parents were there." Shae's anxious voice was slightly mumbled as she continued to worry at her bottom lip with her fingers.

Sara felt herself heave a sigh of relief. "Then he's probably fine," she assured the distressed woman. "If he wasn't with you when you arrived, then he's probably still at home with them. All we have to do is get back to the future and you can go home." Once more, Sara hoped she was telling the truth. If Shae was from the future, then her son should be fine, but if Shae came from her universe… Sara pressed her lips together tightly while she delicately phrased a question in her head. "Do you know about time travel, about what you should and shouldn't do, from books or movies or _TV_?"

"Of course. Doesn't everybody? I mean…" Her voice broke off as her eyes slowly traversed the street around them. "No!" she vehemently denied. "I mean, technically you can travel to the future by approaching the speed of light, and technically you can see into the past, depending on how far away you are from what you're looking at, but you can't time travel to the past! That's impossible!"

"What?" Sara asked in surprise. "Where's that from?"

"Documentaries," came the simple answer.

_Okay, a little more blunt_, Sara thought. "But just imagine that you did fall through the Time Vortex and landed in-"

"What?" the other cut her off with a scoff. "_Time Vortex_? Like in Doctor Who?" Sara grimaced to herself – Shae had come from the same universe as her. She felt her eyes' stinging. _Her son..!_

Shae continued uninterrupted, not noticing the change in her companion. "Fun as that would be, we're talking _reality_ here, and time travel is not _real_!"

"Fun?" Sara asked aghast. "Did you not see the episodes where he's the Time Lord Victorious? How is that fun?"

"Oh, I hated those, especially Mars. Only watched them once or twice, but, but – What does it matter?" She cut off angrily, but soon continued her tirade against time travel.

Sara found herself grimacing at Shae's words as the other continued to rant. She saw Christina fall down in front of her. She saw the blood pouring out of her spacesuit. She screamed and tried to help her friend, but _he_ dragged her away. _It's my fault_, her mind whispered. _It's all my fault. Oh, Christina!_

She felt hands on her shoulders and her eyes shot open and she jumped back. _Had he found her again?_

Shae was looking at her with surprised but gentle eyes. "Are you alright?" she asked. Sara was surprised to find herself hyperventilating. "Just breathe." Shae demonstrated. "Slow deep breaths. It's okay, you're okay." Shae breathed out slowly once more. "See, slow breaths."

Dots were swimming through her vision, but Sara finally managed to regain control over her chest and her rapid gasps steadied.

"That's it. That's it," the other girl reassured her.

Sara suddenly realized how tightly she was gripping Shae by her elbows. She didn't even remember grabbing them, but now she had to consciously remove her claws from the other woman's arms.

"How long have you been here?" Shae asked her gently. "Not that I'm buying the whole 'time travel' thing," she qualified.

"Too long," Sara muttered, trying to hold her voice steady as she shook off the residual fear. "Far too long." She knew she wasn't really answering the question Shae was asking, but it was the answer that felt the most true. She swallowed, taking a breath to steady herself. "We should find rooms here. Lodging." She rubbed her arms with the palms of her hands. "We'll catch hypothermia standing out here." With that encouragement as well as the continued snowfall both women proceeded to walk down the street while Sara examined the directions the officer at Scotland Yard had given her.

"How did this happen?" Shae asked still feeling utterly befuddled by her surroundings. Her concerns about her child were prominent and if somehow she had been displaced…..she took a deep breath. The air truly felt frigid and her clothing beneath the cloak Sara had provided was completely soaked to the skin. "This can't be a dream." She never had one this realistic before where every sensation seemed so entirely vivid.

"Believe me, I wish it was that simple." Sara replied, shaking her head as Shae glanced over at her. "It's…." Her voice trailed. She couldn't tell Shae about the destruction of the universe right here, much less the reality of the Doctor in this dimension. It had only been weeks ago but she remembered vividly how she reacted when the Doctor dragged her off the bridge before blurting out the truth. She could still hear herself screaming at the news she had just received. _How can I tell her? _Sara glanced at Shae, cringing inwardly. _A little boy. I have to tell her that he's…_ Tears came to her eyes momentarily at the thought but she knew she would be unable to lie. Certainly not about this. Hadn't the Doctor taught her that lesson by now?

"It's…what?" Shae prompted.

"Not here." Sara shook her head as they arrived upon their destination. It was a modestly furnished building where the landlady prided herself on running a proper boarding house for single women. She did appear askance as to Shae's state of dress for which Sara had to derive a response inferring to a likely burglary. With the assurance that Sara had been referred to her establishment by an officer from Scotland Yard, the woman showed all due sympathy leading them to a bedroom and smiled at Sara's assurances that she would purchase clothing of their own.

Sara was relieved to postpone the dreadful task of telling Shae about the destruction of her dimension to run her various errands while the landlady insisted on keeping Shae company.

That began with a visit to the pawnshop to sell the bracelets the Doctor fitted on Sara as well as the other jewelry she wore with the exception of her locket. The bangles fetched a higher price, which the shop keep found the purity of gold remarkable. Sara in turn drove a hard bargain but she in turn satisfied to leave the store with an extra fifty pounds. It would suffice to keep them off the streets for the next several weeks but Sara was in deep consternation, knowing they had to find a way back to the modern era. She grimaced as she was forced to purchase two dresses for both Shae and herself, looking at the corset with disdain.

"It will have to do." She muttered to herself, walking out of the store, her purchases in hand. So deeply immersed in her thoughts was she that the swiftly moving stranger barreled directly into her, knocking the items directly out of her grasp.

"Well, excuse you." Sara grit her teeth at the temerity of the man. He didn't even have the decency to pause to offer an apology but was attempting to continue his journey down the street. Upon hearing Sara's voice, he did suddenly cease and slowly turned to face her, looking upon at her with a renewed focus in those all too familiar ancient green eyes.

Sara's breath suddenly caught in her throat. She could hardly move or speak as time seemed to move around her in still frames. _No….not again….please, not again. Oh, God, please. _Her hands clenched at her sides. She could feel herself once more imprisoned under the stasis field unable to move slowly going insane. _'No second chances. I'm that kind of man.' _She shook her head at the memory. "Not him." She whispered to herself. "Not the Time Lord Victorious…I can't…"

"What did you say?" The Doctor was utterly baffled and started to approach the girl he had the misfortune to collide with on the street. He wanted nothing but his own measure of solitude since he lost every vital member of his remaining family. Did he hear her correctly? Was Strax blurting out details about his past to Vastra and Jenny while she was in the proximity? He frowned. It would explain a few things given her sudden level of terror at his presence.

Sara started to scramble backwards at his approach and he released a sigh. "I'm not going to hurt you." He bent down and picked up the various clothing pieces she had dropped and held them out to her as an offering. "See, hardly a scratch." He kept his tone even as she took the items from him, clutching them to her chest. "Now, where did you hear that name? Have a friend of mind who has the tendency to get very easily confused and-"

"Strax?" Sara was unable to stop herself from saying the name and then she saw the serious expression steal over the Doctor's face. "But…." Her words trailed. She didn't know what to say. He actually didn't know who she was. _Another Doctor? _Were the timelines out of sync? Either way, she didn't like the look he was giving her at that moment. "Look, I'm just-"

"Oh, there you are, sir." Strax had made his way over from the carriage parked across the street. "Are you interrogating a hostile enemy threat?" He glanced at Sara eagerly who looked back at him disconcerted. "Should I retrieve the plasma carbines?"

"No, why would you…" The Doctor looked at him exasperated. "Just the memory worm for now." He clenched his jaw. "Have you seen this girl before?"

"Girl, sir?"

"Yes, she happens to be a girl and not a…." The Doctor turned back to where the woman had been standing only to find that she had swiftly departed while their attention was diverted.

The Doctor was silent, examining the alley pondering whether this girl was a threat to his sojourn in isolation as Strax stood stoically by his side.

"I would suggest a full round of thermal grenades." The sontaran volunteered unhelpfully. "And-"

The Time Lord glared at him purposefully, which sent him into silence as they both made their way back to the carriage. _I'll have Vastra keep an eye out. _The Doctor thought with a level of impatience. The very fact that this girl knew his identity made him justifiably nervous. He could no longer relish his isolation if a stranger was privy to details about who he was.

Xxxxxxxxxxx

"Sara, are you all right?" Shae asked when Sara returned only to collapse on the other bed, clutching her hands in front of her as she tried to maintain her breathing.

"I'm…" Sara didn't know how to tell her. The Doctor is real. Their dimension was destroyed by the daleks. Everything they loved is now gone and they were all that survived. But why? She shuddered. What could they do? Her experience had taught her regardless of form, the Doctor was still a threat. That same base personality lurked behind every regeneration he invariably took. "I ran into someone while I was shopping. Reminded me of my past."

"Who?", Shae wanted to ask, but it was apparent that whomever Sara was reminded of, it wasn't a welcome memory. Not knowing what to say without sounding either dismissive or morbidly curious, Shae instead picked up the clothes that had fallen from Sara's hands the instant she entered the room. She took a moment to carefully lay them on her bed, but when she turned back, Sara was unmoved from her huddle on her bed. Nervously, Shae sidled up to the bed and knelt beside her friend. She placed her hand on Sara's back, just between her shoulders, wordlessly trying to offer some form of comfort. "Did you want to talk about it?" she asked softly after a moment.

Sara closed her eyes, pressing her hands on the mattress before righting herself to a sitting position. "Shae, there's something I have to tell you and..." She paused nervously clenching her hands together. "and it's going to be hard to believe but, you know I told you we went back in time." She pressed her lips together as Shae nodded, glancing at her surroundings. "It's...not that simple." She managed. "My entire family, everyone I knew was gone when I woke up in the Tower of London." She swallowed. "I thought I was dreaming when I saw him. I told him he wasn't real but none of that mattered. What we thought. Everything we saw on television." Sara briefly frowned. She was having difficultly placing Shae's accent. Was she British or...She shook her head. She had to stay focused. "I'm sorry. It sounds crazy but you didn't just go back in time." She looked at Shae directly. "This is another reality and the Doctor..." She took out the sonic that she managed to secrete from her previous Doctor, holding it out to Shae. "He happens to be real. That was who I..." Her voice trailed as Shae took the device from her staring at it in shock.

Suddenly, Shae's features hardened and she threw the screwdriver on the bed before her. "Are you kidding me?" She demanded, but Sara could hear a hint of fear beneath her scathing tone. "Yeah. I've got a collection of those at home too."

Shae stood and stepped away from the other woman. She started to head towards the window, something that usually calmed her at home, but instead she broke off and walked to the writing desk at the side of the room instead. She didn't want to look at that street just now; it was a lie, it wasn't real.

Sara stood up and slowly approached her. "You know, I understand. I felt-" She started, before correcting herself. "I feel the same way." She picked up the discarded sonic. "I wasn't even a fan of the show. My friends were and I," Sara shrugged, "Well, I was just along for the ride." She paused. "I made so many mistakes. Saw people die right in front of me and it was my fault and now..." She took a deep breath. "Like an idiot I got his attention. He wasn't paying me a second glance but I had to call out to him just because..." Her voice trailed. She heard voices down the stairs and her eyes widened at the familiar tones. Vastra and Jenny.

"I understand you just acquired a new tenant this morning." Vastra said to the housekeeper, donned in her usual black veil.

"My residents are assured of their anonymity." The landlady was indignant. "I run a proper boarding house and I resent the implication of otherwise."

"Oh, no implication. On the contrary, we're following up on the investigation from Scotland Yard and..."

"Oh, of course." The landlady looked alleviated. "Forgive me. Yes, the two young ladies upstairs."

"There are two?" Jenny asked in confirmation.

Sara quickly shut the door and locked it, leaning against the wooden exterior heavily, trying to come to a decision. Shae was frozen by the writing desk trying to make sense at what she just heard until a series of knocks sounded on the door.

"Miss Thomas? Miss Orr? There are two ladies who would like to have to word about your investigation." The landlady said. Sara put her finger to her lips as Shae folded her hands into her lap, her face flooded with anxiety.

"I know those voices!" Shae whispered, her eyes wide with fear and disbelief.

Sara ignored the other woman, instead rushing over to the window and throwing it wide. There was a planter box out the window, but there was no way for them to climb down safely, especially with Sara constrained by the corset given her by Officer Bennett. She looked over at Shae. They could try bluffing their way out, but Shae's clothes...

"You have to change," she told the other in a harsh whisper. "Quick." She rushed over to Shae's bed as she spoke and gathered a few garments in her arms.

"What?" Shae asked. She hadn't moved from her spot next to the desk. Her knuckles were white from where she tightly clenched the back of the wooden chair beside her.

"Miss Thomas? Miss Orr?" the landlady's voice called again as her knuckles rapped against the door.

"Quick!" Sara hissed, shoving a dress at the hesitant woman. Shae caught the clothes on reflex, but she didn't move to do anything with them. Her eyes met Sara's again, radiating confusion, disbelief and fear. "We'll pretend we're just like everyone else. Not from the future or anywhere else, but you have to change!"

"Why?" Shae whispered fearfully.

"I'm sorry," they heard a muffled voice on the other side of the door as the landlady addressed the Victorian duo. The jangling sound of keys had Sara on edge. "Perhaps they've stepped out. Miss Thomas was asking about purchasing dresses earlier." The lock began to rattle.

"Just a moment, we're getting dressed," Sara called out in a panic.

"It is no matter. We're all ladies here," a familiar reptilian voice replied.

_No time. No time._ Sara thought. She quickly raced to the door and grabbed the cloak that hung beside it. Rushing back to a still unmoving Shae, she swept the cloak around her shoulders and covered the woman's modern outfit, and not a moment too soon.

"Don't say anything," she whispered. "Don't trust them. Trust me!"

Shae's terrified eyes almost appeared to bulge from her pale face, but she met Sara's gaze and managed a small, weak nod.

The landlady bustled into the room, and Vastra quickly followed her. Her eyes pierced through her veil, studying the women and their surroundings with practised perception. It was the women's expressions that concerned her the most. While she was used to invoking a response of fear in the more primitive apes, these strangers also displayed a remarkable amount of recognition. Once Jenny had entered the room behind her, the Silurian turned to the matron. "Thank you, kindly. But we will now require some privacy."

Sara took a deep breath to ready herself. After all the best defense was a good offense and Shae was hardly prepared for this. No. She had to protect her. She suffered from the worst of what the Time Lord Victorious had to offer and was not about to stand by to let it happen to someone else.

When their landlady left the room, she folded her arms across her chest, stepping in front of Shae, while lifting her chin in determination. "Is there something I can do for you?"

Vastra carefully evaluated the girl in front of her taking note of her defensive posture. "Miss Thomas," She started. "Do you know who I am?"

Sara was silent for a moment considering her response cursing the fact that she was a terrible liar. Finally, she looked at both women with a hint of disdain. "Oh, of course I do. I believe you're the ones invading our privacy." She clenched her hands together. "What gives you the right to enter our room and interrogate us?" She raised her eyebrows speaking quickly. "Have we committed some crime except for being accosted by a-"

"Now, that is what I intend to discuss with you, Miss Thomas." Vastra considered her briefly. "Or may I call you Sara?" She glanced at Shae. "And you I believe-"

"She has nothing to do with this." Sara interceded, her temper flaring while Vastra and Jenny exchanged glances. When the Doctor contacted them and asked them to follow up on the girl, he didn't consider it a complicated assignment. Now, intuition told the Silurion otherwise.

Shae was starting to feel like she had utterly lost her mind. Vastra. Jenny. They were supposed to be fiction. If this was a dream, she very much wanted to awake right now.

"You spoke with an associate of mine. He is..." Vastra was trying to decide on the right word. "concerned. You are aware you called him the Time Lord Victorious, are you not?"

Shae let out a gasp and Sara glanced at her, shaking her head before turning back to Vastra. "I was confused. Mistaken."

"Apparently not to such a degree that you failed to identify Strax as his ally."

Sara closed her eyes, pressing her lips together. "All right. I'm sorry. I know your identities. But..." She took a deep breath. "I won't tell anyone. So there is no point in using a memory worm on us. We won't say anything. All this..." She gestured around herself. "It was an accident. You have our word. I just can't..." Her words trailed as her voice started to shake. "I can't do this again."

"Can't do what again?" Jenny asked, speaking up for the first time. She looked concerned when Sara suddenly dropped into a chair, putting her face into her hands. "What happened?" She glanced at Shae and her tone softened. "Could you tell us?"

Shae jolted slightly when Jenny addressed her, but she refused to look at the woman's face; looking at her face risked making the fictional character real, and she wasn't real, was she? Shae's eyes flickered from the hem of Jenny's skirt to Vastra's black dress. But out of the corner of her eye she noticed Sara shivering. She turned from the two intruders so she faced Sara directly but could still see Vastra and Jenny in her periphery. "We can talk later, if you want," she whispered. "Don't say anything now." She gave Sara a comforting squeeze on the shoulder before standing to face the illusion in front of her. Despite her best efforts, however, she still couldn't bring herself to look them in the eye, which she knew only weakened her position.

_It's not real_, she whispered to herself. _It's just pretend. It's just a dream, just a game - like roleplay... I'm good at roleplay_... Her heart thudded in her throat at the fear that she was lying to herself. "I don't know," she answered Jenny, "but you're upsetting her and I think you should leave now."

"My dear," the scaly voice overrode her gently. "We are here to help."

Shae held back a scoff at the misdirection. Who were they here to help? She swallowed heavily as she tried to think her way out of the situation.

"It's a'right, love," Jenny told her. "You can trus' us."

_'Don't trust them, trust me,'_ Sara had whispered.

Shae thought through the episodes she'd seen with the Victorian trio, searching her mind for some way to escape their predicament. "We've heard of you," her voice croaked out. She cleared her voice and tried to speak with more confidence, but her words continued to wobble from her control. "The great detective that, that..." _What was the writer's name again?_ "That Sherlock Holmes was based on..." she finally decided on. She hoped this would explain how she and Sara knew of them, but she doubted she'd been very convincing.

"Where are you from, my dear? I can't place your accent." Shae was surprised by the Silurian's random question. Obviously Vastra was trying to throw her of guard with her obscure approach.

"Sydney." He voice wavered again as she answered. She did briefly consider lying, but she had never been to the United Kingdom before. All she knew about England she had learned from Doctor Who.

"Ahh," Vastra said in understanding. "You do realise, don't you," she continued, "that in this era a woman of your apparent station would be unable to gain passage from the penal colonies back to the British isles? To succeed at such a feat, you would have come from a family of significant standing, and would not have been left in a position to be forced to stay in an establishment such as this. Which tells me that you are either lying to me, or you are... displaced." The last word was enunciated with precision.

Shae froze, her eyes fearfully wide as she stared at the hem of the reptilian woman's dress. What year was it again? How had she forgotten her history. Of course she couldn't have come from Australia...

She felt Sara stir beside her. Without warning, the other woman was standing in front of her, coming to her defence.

"Enough." Sara took a deep breath, regaining herself fully. "Who do you think you are accusing my friend like this?" She scowled at them. "Sydney happened to be colonial and Shae's husband was an officer until the smallpox epidemic hit and she was forced to move." Sara's arm's folded across her chest. "Not everyone who lived there was in a penal colony or don't you know your history?"

"Quite astute." Vastra told her. "But I'm inclined to think that's not the truth."

"That's the pot calling the kettle black." Says Sara. "You clearly lied to speak to the two of us." Sara lifted up her chin. "And we're finished here." She headed to the door, starting to open it. "Mrs. Howard?" She called out to the landlady.

The door was suddenly pushed close and Sara gasped, stumbling back as she looked at the two women in front of her.

"We only wish to help. Our residence could provide a far more accommodating atmosphere then this one." Vastra offered. "Certainly, we could attempt to send you back to your own time."

"No, thank you." Sara said. She was hardly in a position to trust anyone. Shae could barely look at the two women in front of her. She must be struggling to cope with the idea that they were indeed real.

"They're fiction." She whispered, largely to herself and Sara grimaced feeling in her pockets for an item that might provide some offer to leverage.

"Oh, on the contrary dear, we are quite real." Jenny affirmed and Sara took a deep breath.

"Leave us alone." Sara ordered, her voice took on a serious edge as the two women looked at her, seeming to evaluate her.

"I'm afraid that is out of the question." Vastra said. "This doesn't need to become unpleasant or..." Her voice trailed in midsentence as Sara suddenly removed the sonic pointing it at the two in front of her.

Shae looked in disbelief, wondering what a toy based on fiction would be able to accomplish but Vastra and Jenny suddenly froze under Sara's order. _What are you going to do? Assemble a cabinet at them? _The words came to the forefront of her mind.

"Might I inquire as to where you got that?"

"It was my lucky day." Sara told them. "Mine, but as it seems, not yours. Leave right now." She ordered. "I know how to use it."

Again, Shae was utterly bewildered. Did they mistake a toy for a weapon. Had Sara lost her wits? "Sara...?" She started.

Meanwhile Vastra headed her off. "You have no idea what is in your possession."

"Don't I?" Sara looked at them stoically pressed the default setting. A lantern broke into pieces at the nearby side table and Shae suddenly jumped looking at the fragments in disbelief. That was no toy. That could only mean...

Sara aimed the screwdriver at the pair. "I think I do. That setting looks pretty fun. Should I try for another?"

"Mum..." Jenny started, addressing Vastra. "We can't..."

Sara fingers were sweaty, slipping over another setting. The overhead light exploded, showering them with sparks as they dodged the falling piece of equipment. In that instant, Sara seized Shae's hand pulling her out the door.

"What are we doing?" Shae gasped as they jogged down the stairs.

"Run." Sara was breathing hard. "We have to run."

Sara held tightly to Shae's hand, as the other woman was almost tripping over the cloak as they barreled down the stairs. Shae used her free hand to gather the dark wool up and she looped it over her arm.

"Miss Thomas?" the surprised and distressed landlady called out as the two women staggered passed her towards the front entrance. Suddenly, Sara stopped. If they'd parked their carriage out the front, then Strax would be waiting for them there... She turned and pulled Shae in the opposite direction, bumping into the matron once more. Shae pulled back against Sara's hand, pausing briefly in the dim corridor.

"Mrs. Howard," She spoke quickly. "Those women are liars. They're trying to kidnap us because our families are rich." Sara tugged her arm at the clattering sound on the staircase. "Help us!" Shae called over her shoulder, as she followed Sara weaving through the house.

Behind them, the matron cried out in a loud, angry voice, but the two women were too focused on running to hear her words. The building seemed to erupt around them. Women and servants poured into the halls in uproar, but Sara managed to slither through the kitchen exit into the back garden with Shae in her wake before they became trapped in the chaos.

The tight corset was already impacting her breathing, but she pushed her awareness of it aside and concentrated on reaching the wooden gate that lead to the refuse alley at the back of the block. Once in the alleyway, Shae took the lead, dragging the gasping woman behind her. Initially, Sara had been frustrated when Shae refused to don the clothes the kind housekeeper had lent her. She understood that Shae didn't want to acknowledge that she had somehow become trapped in Victorian England, but her modern clothing would make it difficult for them to explore and determine a way back to their own time. Now, however, she was relieved by the other woman's stubbornness. She was able to run and help Sara while Sara herself was struggling to sufficiently fill her lungs.

Neither of the women noticed, but a shadowy figure followed them through the gate and kept a constant distance from the fleeing pair. He didn't approach them - no, he'd overheard the results that would bring - but he followed and listened. Perhaps after the encounter with Vastra and Jenny they would be sufficiently distraught as to let some information slip so he would know what they were.

Sara wasn't sure how long they ran, surely only a few minutes, when she felt Shae struggling to untie the lace on the front of her dress. She held her hand up. "No, no, I'm alright. Just give me a minute..."

The two rested, each trying to regain control of their breath. Shae recovered more quickly than her corset-wearing counterpart.

"But if…they're…real," She breathed out heavily, "then the Doctor's real, right? Maybe he can help us..."

Sara rounded on the naïve woman. "Remember Mars? Remember the Time Lord Victorious?" Shae looked aghast, but Sara couldn't let her hold the delusion that the Doctor was a 'good guy'. "He might change his face. He might act like a child. But he's still the _same person_! He's dangerous. We can't trust him!"

Hidden just out of their sight, the Doctor's face pulled into a tight frown. In just a few words, these women had implied detailed knowledge of something he hadn't shared. Who were they? How did they know him? Depending on what they knew, how they knew it, and how long they'd known, the memory worm would be useless. He might have to take years from them, and yet they may still be aware of him. No, he needed a different approach for these strangers.

Shae glanced over her shoulder at the corner behind her. In her mind's eye she could picture him standing, listening, just out of sight. "But he's the…Doctor," she retorted, shaking the image away.

"You said you hated Mars," Sara interrupted. "That you didn't want to watch it. He's still the same man. Just because you don't like that bit doesn't make it go away."

"I'm sorry." Sara told Shae as her hands began to shake. "But you can't ever trust him. You have no idea of what he's really like." She took a deep breath. "The Time Lord Victorious...he's the one that kidnapped me. Dragged me onboard. Tried to break a fixed point. I had to sit there and watch my only friend die and he told me it was all my fault. My responsibility." Her mouth quivered as she frowned deeply. "He didn't snap out of it like you saw on the show. He knew Adelaide was going to kill herself, took the gun away and I..." Sara took a deep breath. "I had to pull the weapon." She closed her eyes. "Kept trying to tell myself that it was for the universe. That's why she had to die. Adelaide told me to do it too but I couldn't." Tears streamed down Sara's face. "And then she rushed me. The gun went off. All that blood…."

Immediately Shae put her arm around Sara's shoulders in a comforting gesture. "I'm sorry. I didn't know but he was wrong. What happened to your friend. It was an accident. How could any of that been your fault?"

"Because I was there." Sara's voice shook. "He said I was a weapon. The information I knew about his future..." She looked at Shae. "If he finds out about you, he'll do the same." She took a deep breath. "Don't ever think to tell him that we watched the show on television because he won't believe it and..."

"And what?" Shae prompted. The image in her mind of the Doctor standing out of sight listening refused to dismiss itself. Maybe it was on account of her paranoia.

"He'll lock us up. Fifty or sixty years in one room. All by ourselves. Or strap us to a table to run tests or experiments on us...until we die." Sara murmured. "That's the Doctor." She shook her head. "That's my nightmare."

A voice suddenly echoed behind them. "Freeze in the name of the Sontaran Empire, you putrescent, alien filth."

Sara and Shae suddenly turned to gasp at the very alien who stood armed behind them. "Prepare to surrender now and submit for full interrogation or we will employ the use of scalpel mines and acid."

The Doctor sighed in irritation. The information he had hoped to glean from the two women freely was now interrupted on behalf of his gender-confused associate and he sighed wearily. He slowly rounded the corner and cautiously stepped forward, trying not to startle the women any further.

"No, we will not Strax." His voice distant as he carefully began approaching the women he had been trailing. "I apologize for him. Clan warrior race. Typical middle child of six million." He glanced at Sara's whose eyes widened in sudden fear. "Don't worry. No one's going to hurt you." He attempted to keep his voice calm.

"Oh no...that wouldn't be like you, Doctor." Sara spat. "Torture. Now that's far more your style. How many days are you going to strap us to a table with a stasis field? Two?" She challenged. "Three?"

"Sara, just relax," he attempted. "The three of us should talk and-"

"No!" She protested. "No more talking! Just stay away from us!"

Shae for the moment had stared at him stunned. It was indeed the Doctor and he looked so very real. She swallowed. From what Sara said, he had tormented her. Imprisoned her unjustly while running tests on her to sate his own curiosity. She never thought it possible from the Doctor she'd seen on the show. Wouldn't he stand as her only chance to get back home? Or would he do as Sara inferred. Imprison her in a room and she would have no hope of ever seeing her son again.

"I'm afraid I can't do that." The Doctor's voice while not harsh was flat. Almost impatient. Whatever he expected, it certainly wasn't this and now he was forced to act. Two women with that acute precognition was a danger to him in any time period and the particular odor that resonated around the two women. There was a distinct smell about them that was all too familiar reminding him of his TARDIS. "Listen to me..."

But Sara seized Shae's hand, pulling her in the opposing direction as they stumbled away only to nearly run directly headlong into Vastra and Jenny themselves. Both gasped as Sara shook her head violently in refusal at their presence.

"I promise that we intend no harm." Vastra's voice was gentle to the now cornered women on the street.

Sara's head whipped back and forth, her eyes glaring viciously as she searched for an escape. Her hand groped in her pocket again, searching for that silver tool.

Shae, on the other hand, clung tightly to Sara's hand, almost cowering behind the other woman.

He couldn't be real. Surely, he wasn't real... But deep down she knew she was fighting a losing battle. The other three she could explain away; make up, prosthetics, a very poor taste practical joke show. But the Doctor...

She'd always enjoyed the way he was portrayed on the telly, the way the actors were able to personify the centuries old alien who looked young, but had old eyes. But they held nothing against the Doctor. His presence in the alley was like a physical weight in the air - suffocating. She made the mistake of looking at him when he first appeared. And his eyes... No actor, no human, could ever possibly do his eyes justice. They were impossible. So many characters on the show commented on how old his eyes were, and during that brief instant when she glanced at him, Shae could see it. Luckily, he had been looking at Sara at that moment. If he had been looking at her..? Shae shuddered and her heart went out to the woman beside her. This was when the Doctor was reasonably good, if a little lost, but Sara had been trapped with the Time Lord Victorious.

No, Sara was right. They couldn't let themselves be caught. They had to escape. There had to be a way out. She began running scenarios through her head, trying to find one that didn't result in the doors of the TARDIS closing behind them. "There's always a way out," she whispered to herself as a comforting mantra.

The Doctor's eyes flickered between the women. Was it just a coincidence that she repeated words with the same inflection that he had spoken a long time before? He wanted to think so, but under the circumstances he thought it unlikely. He set the thought aside to ponder later, and refocused his attention on the more volatile of the two women.

"'No harm'," Sara scoffed. "Sure, he said that once too." She clutched the sonic tightly in her hand, but didn't pull it out of her pocket yet; it would only cause him to do the same, and she wanted him to act first.

"I think we both know that I'm not him," the Doctor interrupted as he slowly crept forward. "Another Time Lord, perhaps, but not me."

Maybe it's his future self, Sara has had dealings with. But then why would she call that version of him the Time Lord Victorious. Maybe his timelines were out of sync with the version of himself Sara had met. Had he deliberately changed his own past to alter what he'd done to this woman? Then why did this version of her still exist? Had something gone wrong? Maybe she was so precognitive she was picking up on timelines that never occurred. Maybe she was picking up and reliving someone else's experiences, someone else's experiences that never happened. That could be the first sign of insanity. The Doctor's thoughts touched on Donna. _Human minds can be so fragile,_ he told himself.

The Time Lord's mind shifted to a time line he'd narrowly escaped. The Valeyard. The alien cringed. He'd barely beaten the evil possible future version of himself the last time, and that was with the help of the Master. Could he defeat a version of himself all on his own? A version of himself not limited by morality, not limited by his rules? There was a reason he had rules after all. Preventing mistakes like the Valeyard was one of them. Maybe the Gallifreyan widower was overreacting. He heard a memory of River telling him to calm down, telling him he needed to stop being so emotional. The echo ripped at his hearts. And he wished he could just go back to his TARDIS. He wished he'd never bumped into a woman named Sara Thomas. He wished he could simply forget. Internally, he glared at the women for interrupting his grief. He hated them for forcing him to figure out their mystery. Couldn't the universe just leave him alone? Hadn't he suffered enough? Hadn't he lost enough? But he knew he couldn't just leave them. They knew too much about him. Something's just couldn't be ignored.

Sara sneered at him, but she couldn't prevent her eyes for ricocheting around as the trap closed in on them. "Don't kid yourself. Maybe I wasn't there, but you're still him." He was getting too close! She knew what would happen if he came within arms reach of them, the same thing that he'd done so many times before. He'd get into her head and force her to bend to him, force her to sleep. She fingered her sonic again. If only he pulled his out, then she had a chance at disabling it. If she didn't, there would be nowhere they could run that he wouldn't find them.

"The snow," Shae whispered beside her. Sara's lips twisted into a momentary frown, and she saw as all eyes turned to her friend. "It's the snow." Suddenly, Shae turned to her and very clearly commanded, "Picture a blizzard with a clear path for us but not them."

Ooooh, he didn't know what she was talking about, but it didn't sound good. The Doctor quickly pulled out his screwdriver and pointed it down to scan the snow, to try to determine what purpose she had for it. But just as he began his search, the sonic sparked painfully in his hand and he dropped it with a yelp. Around them, a blinding blizzard appeared, but rather than coming from the skies above, the snow swirled up from under their feet, painfully whipping their flesh as it was driven by the non-existent air.

He quickly lunged forward to grab them, but his hands came up empty. And now, the snow was so thick in the air that he couldn't even see a hand in front of his face, let alone the two fleeing women. Even the sound of the storm drowned out any chance of him being able to hear where they ran. He stumbled forward, colliding with someone, but he knew the girls had already vanished. The localised storm lasted nearly fifteen minutes, and then it dissipated the same way it appeared; with no warning and no measurable cause for its existence.

He huffed to himself where he stood. He knew they couldn't have gone far, especially with Sara running in a corset, but he had no way of tracking them; no tracks in the snow, no scent on the breeze - the storm had erased every trace. He turned and walked back into the alley, eyeing the fresh snowdrifts for any sign of his screwdriver.

"But, what was that? How could they do that?" Jenny was asking, but the Doctor ignored her question. He would be able to determine what they did to the snow once he found them again. He kicked a particular snowdrift, unearthing his broken sonic.

"Right," he turned, using the silver tube to point at his associates. "You," he pointed at Jenny, "go back to the boarding house and ask questions. See if you can find out Orr's first name. You two," he rounded on Vastra and Strax, "see if you can track them down. Don't approach them, just find them." He turned and began stomping away down the alley.

"It happens to be Shae." She paused. "And what is your intention?" Vastra called to him. Sara had let slip Shae's first name when she attempted to contrive a background story for her friend, which Vastra was able to plainly see through.

"I need to fix my sonic." He grimaced to himself after stepping out of their view and into the fading sunlight. He knew Sara had a sonic device, he'd heard her use it when they were still in their room with Vastra and Jenny. But he hadn't expected it to look identical to his older model. Nor had he expected her to use it to fuse the circuits in his own device. He frowned again as he contemplated something else he hadn't expected; when he accidently bumped into some random woman earlier that afternoon, causing her to drop her bundle of clothes, he hadn't expected it to lead to a day like this one...

xxxxxxxxxxxx

"If he finds out about the energy inside of me, he can use the signature to locate me." Sara tried to explain to Shae who looked at her aghast. They had just used the telepathic snow to their advantage. It was beginning to become too much for the other woman. The fact that there was a real Doctor, telepathic snow...this very universe that existed.

Shae took a deep breath. "But he doesn't necessarily know right?" She indicated. It had been two hours since they escaped the Doctor and his associates. They were searching for rooms in another boarding house. The other, they both knew, was compromised. Sara still had the money she had obtained directly on her person. Still, the night air was becoming chill and to obtain rooms required references. As reluctant as they might be, they might have to give the new landlady Mrs. Howard's name so they could be ensured they weren't engaging in prostitution.

Mrs. Howard seemed aghast at the deceit that was played on her and even though she might not give any further information to the Silurion or Jenny, if the Doctor got it into his mind to approach her with psychic paper or use telepathy, their pretense would be at an end. Not to mention, the damage that was done in their escape from the building, Sara had her doubts she would be displeased to see their return.

"Your signature?" Shae repeated. "What signature?"

"Time energy." Sara shook her head as she stared at her hands in momentary disgust. "I have time energy from a TARDIS in my cells. It…." She took a staggered breath. "It was how I survived the void but the Doctor, he saw me as a weapon." She grit her teeth. She had to tell Shae about what happened to their universe now before things got any worse but she knew how horrifying this proposition it would be. A vivid memory of her standing on the other side of the bridge prepared to jump was etched out in her mind. She had so desperately wanted to end the dream. "Shae, you need to know-"

"A weapon?" A voice sounded behind them causing the two women to turn and let out a startled gasp. "Such an intriguing sentiment." Walter Simeon's voice was flat as he coldly observed the girl's in front of him. Indeed, he had born witness to their demonstration with the telepathic snow. The very fact that they knew about it and used it to their advantage…."It seems fortuitous that our paths have indeed crossed."

"No, nu-nu-nu-nu-no," Shae muttered fearfully. "This is bad. This is all kinds of bad."

Sara in contrast groped for the sonic in her pocket, bringing it up defensively against the villain.

Simeon turned slightly and gestured for the women to walk with him. "If you would accompany me, I have an associate who is eager to make your acquaintance."

"Not a chance," Sara spat. "We've just gotten away from one psychopath. Do you really expect us to walk into the arms of another?" Her voice shook as she spoke, but her hand holding the sonic was steady. She reached back and gently urged Shae to begin a slow retreat down the empty alleyway.

"I'm afraid I must insist," he assured them emotionlessly.

"And we decline," Sara sneered. "We're not going anywhere with you."

Simeon faced the girls directly once more. His face was almost blank apart from the ever-present twist that fouled his lips. "I think you forget," his voice oozed out, "that you are not the only ones who can control the snow."

But a voice interrupted them moment, a voice Sara and Shae never thought they feel so relieved to hear.

"Surrender and prepare to be obliterated for the glory of the Sontaran Empire."

**Author's Note: **As always reviews and insight is appreciated to see if we are doing okay or if we're sort of spinning our wheels. If we have written Eleven correctly. We have to thank LovelyAmberLight for her amusing anecdotes. They were helpful.


	2. Displaced

Simeon seemed to observe the events in front of him in stoic disregard. "Indeed, another accomplice." He glanced behind the Sontaran. "Am I to presume you have been recruiting?"

"An already esteemed colleague of mine." Vastra had made her approach drifting to the side of the two women. "I couldn't help but intervene. The two young ladies don't appear to take well to your company."

Sara and Shae retreated a few steps as Simeon watched them, a calculating expression in his hardened exterior. "I was merely extending the courtesy of offering them shelter gathering they appeared disoriented."

"How kind of you." Jenny's voice was mocking as she stood next to Vastra.

"I'm capable of a great many things." The threat was implied in Simeon's tone and Shae's breath hitched in her throat. He turned to look directly at them. "Just as it appears the two of you are."

"Can we simply destroy him now?" Strax implored and Vastra's eyes seemed to glare at him through the veil.

"Such an apt question but for the sake of formality, it should be stated whether I intend to destroy you." Simeon's lips twisted into the impression of a smirk as suddenly several snowmen manifested around him, razor sharp teeth gleamed as they opened their mouths, expressions malevolent.

Sara started to panic as Shae quickly seized her hand. "Remember, from before. Imagine them melting."

Memories of the Doctor's advice to Clara drifted quickly through Sara's mind. "Melting. Yes." She desperately tried to focus on the mental picture inside her head when she let out a sudden gasp. A surge of bright blue energy discharged from her causing a few of the snowmen not just to simply melt but also to explode in a chaotic pattern.

Collapsing to her knees, she distantly heard Strax call out an order. "Remain in attack formation. Do not reveal our military secrets."

Shae had been stunned by the sudden display in front of her as small flames seemed to lick the very cobblestones but more Snowmen were approaching and for a reason she was unable to discern Sara appeared momentarily weakened. She in turn focused hard on the imagery, clearing her mind forced to push aside the longing for her son in her need to survive. Her eyes were closed when she heard Vastra spoke.

"Gone. Melted in the street."

"The same with Dr. Simeon." Irritation filled Jenny's voice. "There has to be something we can do."

"Indeed but now is not the time." The Silurion was examining the two girls just in front of her. "I believe we should see Miss Orr and Miss Thomas back to our home." Their approach was cautious. Sara flinched as she felt a hand rest on her forearm. Shae felt immensely weary as the couple approached her, frown deepening.

"We only intend to help." Jenny offered soothingly before glancing at her companion. "Should we call the Doctor?" She whispered softly.

"No need for that." It was the Doctor's voice. "I'm already here." Repaired sonic in hand, he approached the group as Shae looked up, her eyes meeting his in sudden apprehension.

"Sara," Shae mumbled to her friend, gripping the other's lax arm tightly. "Sara, we have to go..." But try as she might, she couldn't break contact with the Doctor's ancient eyes.

He wouldn't allow them to escape this time, they were much too dangerous. The moment he'd stepped off his TARDIS, he'd swept the town with his sonic and goggled at the readings he'd gotten. Unfortunately, he wasn't surprised at all when those reading lead him straight back to those girls. At least he now knew why Sara had sabotaged his sonic - she seemed well aware of the energy signature her body was generating. But Sara and Shae were too close together, and his sonic, unusually, wasn't sensitive enough, for him to differentiate between the energies of the two girls. He couldn't quite discern if all or most of his readings came from just one girl, most likely Sara, or if they were coming equally from Shae, or if one wavelength came from one girl and the other from the other. He would have to perform more tests once he got them safely inside his TARDIS.

He continued to hold Shae's eyes as he approached. The last time he had been more focused on Sara who had seemed the more menacing of the two, yet it had been Shae who had recognized the telepathic nature of the snow and devised a way to escape. Even he hadn't been aware of the snow's properties until his attention was drawn to it by that barmaid, Clara, on his way back to the TARDIS. But here, the girls had done far more than simply melting the snowmen. With his peripheral vision, the Doctor studied the damage that had been wrought in the little alley. Scorch marks and stones that continued to smolder dotted the alleyway, and Sara's obviously energy depleted form was just about collapsed in the epicentre of the carnage. If it was just one thing, he would need to take these girls into his custody, yet they displayed acute precognitive knowledge, abnormal psychic awareness, and impossible energy production. He dread to think what other surprises they might have in store for him...

"It's alright, Shae," he gently told the woman. The impression he'd gotten from her through their brief encounters was that she was simply afraid, and that Sara had fueled her distrust against him. With the other girl temporarily incapacitated, perhaps he could now gain control over the situation. "I'm not going to hurt you. I want to help you." He spoke in that calming manner that used to come so naturally to him, back before he lost everything, again.

He didn't allow Shae to break free of his eyes, but he saw her head shake minutely in denial. "The Doctor lies," he heard her whisper. He frowned internally and strengthened his own personal mental shielding. If she and Sara truly had psychic abilities, then holding her gaze may make him vulnerable if she was to attack. So far, he hadn't felt any reciprocation from her, but he wasn't about to take the chance.

He noticed Sara beginning to stir. He needed to finish this now. He'd already disabled her sonic screwdriver the moment he'd come within range, but he felt like he was so close to reaching Shae, and he didn't want the volatile woman to disrupt that.

"You're right. I lie all the time," he affirmed, "but not this time. You're lost, out of your time. Let me help you." He hoped she wasn't sensitive enough to recognise his deception. Once he had them in he custody, they would have to stay with him. He couldn't risk them running free in the universe.

Something broke in her expression, and her tears began to flow freely. "Can you help me find my son?" she begged.

His face softened visibly as he looked at the woman in front of him. Her son. She had been separated from her own child just as he had been torn away from his family. He had been a father once on Gallifrey. _So many children. _He thought to himself. Before he lost his Gallifreyian wife, Patience, the House of Lungbarrow had generations to carry on his name.

But that was gone. Gallifrey was gone. The human family he started to have her ended far too quickly. Amy and Rory were lost to him. River was….He swallowed, remembering the events of the Library, which came to the forefront of his mind. He loathed saying good-bye and he couldn't let River go. Even the semblance of her consciousness was better then nothing at all. Her data ghost trapped forever in the Library. The alternative seemed perpetually worse.

He squatted down in front of the despairing woman, while still maintaining eye contact. "I'll do everything I can." His tone was measured, still hypnotic. "Why don't you tell me about him?" Perhaps he could discern how these two women had ventured into the past from Shae's answers. She indeed was the less volatile of the pair. On that note, while not taking his eyes off Shae, he discreetly put his hand on Sara's arm who appeared to be on the verge of regaining all her faculties. As a touch telepath, while the temples were ultimately preferable leading to the most direct contact with the mind, any physical point of contact would do. A silent command quickly rendered Sara to sleep and he inwardly sighed with relief. Vastra and Jenny supported the girl while her body gave way to complete collapse.

_The energy discharge must have drained her. _In that he considered himself fortuitous that she needed time to regain her stamina.

His attention now focused completely on Shae with the telepathic link established, he marveled briefly at the strength of her mind that she was able to speak without his consent. Both women appeared to have that in common. She looked at him with continued hope.

"His name is Jesse. He's only two years old." Her voice started to crack. "My parents were there too and all I did was run into the kitchen to get him a band-aide." She swallowed. "Then I was here. That's all I remember."

"No strange sounds? Distortions? Tingling sensations or warmth? Any-"

"Warmth…yes." Shae said absently. "I was so cold and there was this pain. I could hardly focus but someone touched me and I felt this warmth." She grimaced, trying to recollect the memory. "Then the pain was gone and I saw Sara. She…." Shae took a deep breath. It was still disconcerting that this wasn't all a dream but seeing the actual Doctor, the events she just witnessed, she could no longer cling to that illusion. Still the Doctor's world was far from entertaining to experience and she had no desire to actually dwell in the stark reality of it. He was her best chance of getting back home, to her family, to her son. "Sara told me where I was."

The Doctor nodded to himself and offered Shae a disarming smile. He had to get both women off the street and back to the TARDIS, which he materialized only around the corner in the alley so it was out of sight. There were tests he needed to run once he had them safely in custody. He held out his hand, his voice still mesmerizing. "I need you to come with me, Shae." Her expression evaluated him nervously. "I promise that I will help you find your son," the Doctor told her, giving the woman his word, "but to do that, you need to come with me." He held out his hand in the impression as though he were offering a choice. He knew there wasn't one. They had to go with him.

To his relief, Shae trustingly took his hand. Now he'd established contact, he no longer needed to hold her eyes to retain his influence over her. He smiled at her gently and rubbed the back of her hand with his thumb in a comforting manner, before he carefully helped her to her feet.

"Sara!" The woman cried, finally able to direct her own gaze again.

"She's fine," the Doctor assured her. "She just wore herself out when she destroyed the snowmen."

Shae frowned as Jenny and Vastra lifted the sleeping form between them. He sensed her doubt beginning to niggle at her. He needed to get them inside fast.

"Can you help me get her to the medbay?" he asked her, "so we can make sure she's okay." Again he faintly felt her surge of emotions, this time concern for her friend. He smiled softly. Whatever else was going on with her, at least her heart appeared to be in the right place. He almost grimaced when he thought of Sara. She, on the other hand; he knew was going to be a handful.

Between them, the Doctor and Shae gently took the sleeping woman from the Victorian duo, him making sure to always keep direct contact with Shae's skin during the transfer. Sara's arms were carefully placed over their shoulders, and they were each reaching around her back, and linking their arms under her underarms to hold her aloft. The Doctor was easily taking the majority of her weight, but by allowing Shae the illusion of helping him, it gave him the opportunity and excuse to continue touching her hand.

"Are you sure you'll be alright?" Jenny asked him.

"Never better," he flippantly replied. "Now, I want you to find out more about Doctor Simeon. Find out about the snow, and find out his interest in these two." What had happened with Simeon didn't sit well with him, and it was exactly the reason he needed Sara and Shae on the TARDIS. Now, he needed to find out how much the other man knew about the girls and how much of a threat he was. The Doctor felt that he was now going to have to personally deal with the Victorian man, but not until he'd investigated his new companions and had them properly contained.

"I shall employ my superior skills at intelligence gathering using homing missiles and napalm," Strax declared.

"I believe you should leave the interrogation to us," Vastra corrected him.

"But you always refuse to use the molecular disintegrator," the Sontaran whined.

"Strax!" The Sontaran huffed but fell silent at the reptile's tone.

The Doctor sensed Shae's amusement through their temporary bond, but his own words as he addressed the group were flat. "Get it done."

He turned his attention back to Shae. "Come on, you'll love this bit" he assured her disarmingly. As he began to lead Shae back the way he'd come, he briefly pondered their link. Apart from her minutely projecting her emotions, he couldn't sense anything untoward about her, and yet both girls had seemed to display strong telepathic ability when they employed the snow against him. Another mystery he would have to investigate...

They rounded the corner, and he suddenly felt her delight bubble within her at the sight of his TARDIS. She shouldn't have had any knowledge of it at all and yet he sensed not only her recognition, but also her joy and wonder, however the feeling was bitter sweet. As awestruck as she was by his marvelous machine, to her it was also a means of returning to her family. She didn't know it yet, but with her abilities he wasn't about to allow her to leave his custody. Perhaps though, he could find her family and they could join her in the TARDIS. After all, he wouldn't want to deliberately separate a mother from her child, and if any of her traits were hereditary - Yes, he needed to track down her family, and probably Sara's too. He grimaced to himself. It would be like a sick parody of the Ponds. Having a family travel with him that would never be allowed to leave. At least he was able to encourage the Ponds to have a regular life as well as the travelling with him.

Shae grinned at the massive box in front of her. She'd seen it on TV so many times, but she'd never quite understood just how big it was. They approached awkwardly with Sara balanced between them, but even that didn't ruin the moment for her. The TARDIS loomed over them as they approached, and she felt like bouncing on the balls of her feet as she thought about the room inside. This would be her final proof. This would finally make it all real.

Off to her right, she heard the Doctor click his fingers, and the doors instantly swung open. While she'd known what to expect, knowing and seeing were two entirely differently things. It felt disorientating and wrong to see the inner dimensions of the TARDIS at such contradictory odds with the outside. She could now see why some people had such trouble accepting the reality of the TARDIS when first exposed to it, the effect was almost nauseating as her brain tried to reconcile the obvious impossibility the blue box presented.

With a slight tug, the Doctor drew her forward and between them they carefully carried Sara over the threshold. She tried to concentrate on her footing, but her eyes roamed around the console room that she'd seen so many times. She played close attention to the left hand side of the room, the side where there stood neither lights nor cameras nor crew. Her face was spit in a wide grin as she took everything in. Just like the box outside, the room was so much bigger than she'd ever imagined.

"Let's put her here for a moment," she heard the Doctor say. Together, they gently rested Sara on one of the jump seats - there were far more in this console room than there had been in the older one. Shae hoped the seat was more comfortable than it looked.

As soon as she was securely down, the Doctor leapt away and bounced around the console, pressing buttons, flicking switches and turning knobs. Shae laughed delightedly when the room filled with the distinctive sound of the TARDIS taking flight. Surprisingly, the journey didn't seem to be as rough as it was always shown on the telly. Perhaps the screenwriters took a bit of poetic licence, or perhaps he was being extra gentle with Sara unconscious on the jump seat beside Shae.

When everything finally stopped, the Doctor jumped out from where he'd been hidden behind the Time Rotor. "Well?" he asked, his arms spread as wide as the smile on his face. "What do you think?"

"Sorry," she said, not sounding sorry at all. "Can I play with the doors?"

The Doctor arms dropped limply and he gave her a perplexed look. "Play with..?"

"Yeah," she assured him with a grin. "I've always wanted to."

_Always..?_ He smiled and waved his arm towards the doors. He wasn't concerned about her getting away, and if she was relaxed he might be able to learn more from her. He ran ahead of her and flung the doors wide. It wasn't just a jovial display, he didn't want her to discover that he'd locked the doors to his own bioprint. She literally wouldn't be able to open the doors if she tried.

She approached the doors slowly, her eyes shining brightly at the view. "We're back on the cloud," she whispered.

_Back._ She knew he'd been on the cloud before.

Shae giggled as she carefully stepped out onto the super dense water vapour. She took a moment to bounce on the slightly spongy feeling ground before she turned her attention back to the blue box.

"How long have you known about the TARDIS?" he asked lightly.

"I dunno." She laid one arm across the outside of the box, while she reached in through the doors with the other. She pressed her hand towards each other, marveling at the way they crossed through each other but never met. "Since I was little? You know, this would have been better with the old desktop, when the doors were flush with the inside walls rather than in this little foyer."

"I hadn't ever thought about it," he admitted, allowing a hint of humour to colour his voice, but inside he found it frightening how casual her knowledge seemed. She spoke about his TARDIS as though it was the most common thing in world. Her knowledge sounded too easy and instinctive. He dearly hoped Sara's perception wasn't nearly as acute as Shae's. The thought that it could be had him almost dragging Shae back inside so he could test them both in the medbay. _'Since I was little...'_ He shuddered to think of all those years Shae had wandered the earth unprotected, and he was deeply relieved to have her in his custody now.

Discreetly, he adjusted the water vapor so that if Shae decided to venture down the staircase, she wouldn't get far. Based on her behavior at present, her mind wasn't set on straying from the TARDIS but he decided it was better to be cautious. He exerted patience taking amusement in the way she examined the exterior surroundings. After all, if he appeared kind and as really fun as he used to be, prior to losing the Ponds, then having her accompany him to the medbay would prove less of a challenge. Perhaps she could shed some light on Sara, which might give insight as to calm the more volatile of the two.

He considered the matter only to find himself startled when the TARDIS phone rang and he retreated while never taking his eyes of Shae to answer it. He rubbed his forehead wearily and frowned. It was Vastra. Apparently, he was right about Clara and the fact it was her knocking on his door only earlier. When he traveled back to the cloud, he traversed at the same time to the morning. He was never one to want to wait for breakfast. Briefly his mind took stock on the different variety of pastries he had on board and he licked his lips in anticipation.

"Doctor?" Vastra was calling him to attention and he refocused.

"Yes, you were saying…about the girl." He answered, attempting to push breakfast from his mind.

"I gave her the one word test." Vastra's voice rang with significance.

He sighed. "That's always pointless." He shook his head. "What did she say?"

There was silence on the other end and he became somewhat impatient. "Well?" He paused. "Well?"

"Pond."

His breath froze as Shae glanced back at him. She recognised the dialogue and knew what it meant from the episode but the look of pain mixed with alarm that suddenly overcame the Doctor's features radiated from him in a way she did not expect. She knew what happened to his family and in that moment, feeling as separated as she was from her own child, she was overcome with empathy.

"Doctor?" She started. "Are you alright?"

He looked at her and he was disturbed that her gaze seemed so knowing and he cleared his throat. "I'll deal with it," he spoke into the phone, before setting it down and addressing Shae, forcing a smile. "Course I am. Everything is fine. D'you want to come inside now? Have breakfast?" Shae was about countermand him. After all, it had been night when he collected the two. "Know what you're about to say but on the TARDIS it's always time for breakfast." He took her hand propelling her back towards the console room thinking about the different flavors of Welsh Cakes he had on board to choose from. Dozens of varieties ran through his mind. "Jam Split or Apple Dragon?" He asked as they reached the door.

"I'm sorry?" Shae posed in confusion and the Time Lord turned to look at his befuddled new passenger.

"What flavor?" He was about to speak again only to suddenly freeze in his very pace, a serious look stealing upon his face. His other passenger, Sara was no longer asleep. His brows drew together in a frown as he immediately took to examining the console room.

She had entirely disappeared.

Xxxxxxxxxxxx

Sara had awoken finding herself in panic to be in the console room of the TARDIS. The change in color, nor streaming of lights in a various pattern did little to ease her fear…no. He was still the same man. She shuddered remembering the experience with the cuff the Time Lord Victorious enforced on her wrist so she wouldn't stray away from him. _He'll probably do the same to me. _She heard Shae's voice coming just outside the TARDIS and blinked. _The same to both of us…_Shae had no idea. She hadn't been able to tell her every detail of her imprisonment. How she had to watch Christina die in front of her. How often the Doctor had forced his way inside her mind. The pain of the experience. He had done it again. Forced her to sleep and she shivered, feeling tears come to her eyes as she stared at the console room with a sensation of despair. The door was open but she heard the Doctor's voice. If she ran, he would likely have her in seconds. No. She needed a better plan then that.

She carefully stepped forward and examined the controls nodding to herself that the switches for the deadlocks were still in place. It would suit for what she needed and at this moment, she couldn't leave Shae behind. She knew what the other woman was thinking. That the Doctor would provide her with a way back to her son. Sara grimaced. _I should of told her before. _Now her hand was forced and she would have to impart the information as quickly and gently as she could. Shae had to know the truth and that the Doctor intended to confine her indefinitely here forcing her to undergo one horrendous adventure after another. _Or…._She inhaled, closing her eyes. Locking them in one room unable to escape. Slowly going mad. She remembered the shadows in her room coming to claim her. _I won't let that happen again. I can't. _Licking her lips, she retreated down the small staircase and just inside the corridor so she could view the room but not be in the proximity and waited….her plan might not work at all, she knew but it was better then the alternative. To be dragged into the medbay. Strapped down again where she couldn't move for two days straight.

She heard the Doctor come into the TARDIS, talking nearly nonstop to Shae about breakfast only for his voice to suddenly stop and she watched him look around the console in slow examination.

"Stay here a moment." He said to Shae immediately rushing outside, which Sara knew was in pursuit of her.

There was no time to waste. Sara immediately ran to the controls startling Shae as she instantly located the switches she needed pressing one, then the other. The door slammed shut and the deadlock seal slid into place. Immediately, she heard knocking from the outside and then the buzzing sound of the Doctor using his screwdriver, likely trying to find a way inside. Sara probably didn't have long before he succeeded but if she could get the other woman on her side…

"What are you doing?" Shae started. "You can't just-"

"You need to listen to me." Sara told her. "You can't trust him. He's lying to you. I swear to you, he is."

"But he promised me he would held me find my son." Shae protested. "He gave me his word and-"

Sara took her hands, taking a deep breath as she looked the woman straight in the eyes. "I'm sorry Shae. Even if he would do it, he can't. I'm really, really sorry…our universe, there was an accident. A bad one." Sara swallowed. "The daleks and the reality bomb….our universe was moving faster ahead…"

"No…" Shae's breathing became staggered. She knew what Sara was likely about to say but…"No! Don't say it! Please don't…." Tears came to her eyes as a distinct buzzing sound resounded in her ears. _Can't be real if she doesn't-_

"I'm really sorry. It's gone. Our dimension is gone." She squeezed Shae's hands tighter in support, feeling the agony that surely Shae was experiencing now.

"NO!" Shae yelled, tearing her hands from the other's grip. "You're _Wrong_!" She shook her head in denial, backing away. "You don't understand. You've got it _Wrong_!"

"Shae, I'm so sorry." Sara didn't know what else to say at that moment. Shae needed to know, needed to understand, needed to accept what had happened to their reality. Only after that did they have any hope of escaping from the Doctor.

"No, you're wrong. The reality bomb-" she swallowed a lump in her throat, but powered on. "It was only focused on those people. They didn't use it properly..." Suddenly, it hit her - those had been real people. It wasn't just pretend.

Her legs gave way, and she fell to the cold deck, jarring her knees painfully as she landed on them.

"It wasn't just focused on the people. They were just put in the way of the beam to see the result. I'm sorry, but you had to know. I was going to tell you before but-" But they'd been too busy trying to escape the Doctor. Sara took a deep breath, her eyes brimming at Shae's pain. "It's just us. We're all that's left. I'm sorry, I wish it was different." She knew the other woman needed time to come to terms with things, but they didn't have that luxury. "Shae, he can't help us. He won't help us. He's never going to let us go, not ever. Look, the instant I was out of sight, he ran after me. Did you see? Did you see that? He'll trap us here forever just like-" She paused. "Just like last time." Suddenly the fear and grief overwhelmed Sara and she broke down equally with her last kin.

"What happened to you?" Shae asked softly after a brief moment, feeling empathy for the shattered girl.

Sara, instead of answering, asked, "Are you okay?"

"Yes," Shae told her defiantly, her face harden as she spoke. "Because you're wrong." She pushed herself up and moved away from the other woman. She felt guilty. She felt like she should try to help, Sara looked so broken after all. But how _dare_ she! She was wrong! There was no way that... There was just no way, no point even contemplating it... But a sliver of pain had already buried itself in her heart, and regardless how she tried to reassure herself and prove Sara's mistake, her fear for her family continued to grow...

Since she'd arrived she'd been terrified for Jesse. She had been reassured somewhat that her parents would look after him in her absence, but now... She hugged herself tightly, wishing that Rob was with her, comforting her. He wasn't one to take flights of fancy. He would assure her of how the world really worked...

And in the real world, Doctor Who was just a TV show...

This couldn't be real, it just couldn't be. She must be in a coma or had a mental breakdown. No! This wasn't real, and if this wasn't real, she wasn't going to engage with it any more.

Shae sat down where she was, tightly holding her knees to her chest and burying her head in what little darkness her posture allowed. She wasn't going to play with this world any more. She was going to stay here until she woke up.

"Shae!" Sara cried out crouching down right in front of her. "Shae, please. I'm sorry! I wish…." She took a deep breath. How could she reach her? Suddenly, Christina's last words came to her. It wasn't much. She didn't even know whether Shae had faith in a higher power but she couldn't simply let her retreat. Not now. The Doctor was just outside.

"Shae, just listen to me." Sara softened her tone. "I want to tell you something. I made a friend when I was with the other Doctor. Her name was Christina and she was…." Sara swallowed, feeling the lump in her throat. "She was wonderful. Saw how lonely and trapped I was so she offered to come." Tears came to her eyes. "She was there at Mars when…." Sara shook her head. "But something happened. An explosion and her artery was severed. She was dying but she told me….she would be my friend no matter where she was. That it never changed where she was going." Sara pressed her lips together at the pain of recalling this memory but she hoped it would help Shae. "My family and my friends that was lost. She said she would say 'hello' to them for me." Tears streamed down her face. "You see, your family, mine they're not gone. Not really. Somewhere, I know they're okay and waiting for us." Sara placed her hands on Shae's shoulders as she whispered Christina's last words. "He has freed you from your chains."

"For you have delivered my soul from death, my eyes from tears, my feet from stumbling." Shae whispered, speaking the verse from the Psalms and Sara breathed a sigh of relief. It was something, at least. Progress. She was speaking to her.

"Christina told me we're never alone." Sara told her. "Sometimes…it's been so hard for me to remember. I…." It was difficult not to feel the despair, the brokenness.

Slowly, Shae looked at her, meeting her eyes. "What happened?" Her voice was hollow.

"I was touring the Tower of London with my best friend, Jessica and I fell through a crack. Woke up in the Black Archive with UNIT. I didn't know what was happening. Like you, I thought they were acting and then…." Sara took a deep breath. "I ran, tried to go back to my hotel. The Doctor found me there. I told him he was fiction. A character on TV but he kidnapped me. Forced me to sleep over and over again. Told me I only had one chance before he locked me up inside the TARDIS." She clenched her hands together. "I tried so hard to get away. Each time…." Her voice trailed. "He forced his way inside my mind and it hurt, Shae. It hurt so much. The pain is like nothing you ever felt. I saw him turn into the Time Lord Victorious before my very eyes." She closed her eyes briefly. "He called me a stupid ape and a murderer when Adelaide died. I ran but he found me, locked me in my room for weeks. I slowly went mad and wanted to die. Join my family but he found me and…." She glanced back at the door. "He strapped me to a table in the medbay for two days straight. I couldn't move." She looked back at the other woman. "Please you have to believe me. I wouldn't lie. Not about this. That Doctor, just outside, he commanded me to sleep before he brought you here."

Shae looked at her stunned. "No. He said you were worn out from blowing up the snowmen. He…."

"He lied. The Doctor always lies." Sara told her. "I'm not. I'm pretty terrible at lying anyway….please, you can't give up now. I know how hard this is but we have each other…I've just been alone for so long. I'm sorry." Her hands trembled. The lock on the door wouldn't hold out much longer. Sara hadn't thought the entire plan through reacting based on impulse. Once the Doctor got inside…..

Sara's eyes scurried around the console room premises and she darted forward, finding a spare utility beam in the corner next to a variety of equipment that appeared to be for repairs. She seized it, remembering how Amy Pond had caught the Doctor off guard and managed to render the Time Lord unconscious. Planting herself just behind the door, she waited.

She didn't have to wait long. The doors opened, flush to the inside as he strode in directly and Sara didn't pause, immediately lifting the beam to strike him squarely on the head. She brought it down only to gasp as he suddenly caught it in mid air, turning on her with a serious expression on his face, while she struggled with her makeshift weapon.

"Sara, just listen to me." His voice was still soft but firm. With his acute hearing, despite the doors being closed, he had heard the entire conversation that had taken place and it nearly broke his hearts. If it was true, they were victims. Casualties of the reality bomb and to make matters worse, Sara suffered abuse at a Time Lord's hands. His hands, regardless of dimension. He truly believed for a while now that despite the archaic believes that Time Lord's were transdimensional , it wasn't true. Too many factors considering the infinite number of possible universes rallied against this very notion. Now, he found a survivor of his duplicate but found himself disgusted. No wonder Shae had been so afraid of him from the beginning with what Sara experienced. He swallowed. It changed little. He was still a Time Lord. The girls had to remain in his custody but he needed to try to calm Sara down first. "It's okay. Everything's alright. I'm not going to-"

Casting him a glare, she suddenly relinquished the beam and at the angle, he was standing, he tripped falling down the two stairs directly onto his knees. Instantly, she was out the door, hearing footsteps behind her. She hoped it was Shae. She felt her heart pounding in her chest as she started to run down the stairs only to find herself suddenly trapped midway between the clouds and the Earth. The water vapor had solidified and she could no longer descend. "No!" She screamed in desperation as she placed her fingers on the moist surface. _The edge….Clara was pulled off the edge. _ButSara was already halfway down. Maybe the fall wouldn't be too far. She crawled forward to find the empty expanse, searching in sheer desperation.

She felt a hand grip her ankle, and she was yanked back towards the stairs. "No!" she cried out in horrified surprise.

"What are you doing?" the Doctor hissed in disbelief. He had allowed her to get a little ahead of him, thinking that when she realised the stairs were closed to her he would be able to talk to her and settle her down. Never once did he consider that Sara might try to escape over the cloud. A few more feet and she would have passed the point where the cloud had the integrity to hold her aloft, and a fall from this height would be fatal for her.

"Let me go!" The woman lashed out at him. He barely managed to hold onto her, despite her flailing limbs, which she aggressively aimed at him. He copped more then a few hits that he was sure would smart for a while, but he endured them as he sought to improve his grip. He considered just putting her back to sleep, and he would if he had to, but, considering what he'd overheard, he would try to keep that as a last resort. But manhandling her back onto the TARDIS could be just as damaging.

He eventually managed to pull her so her back was against his chest. he held her wrists tightly and bear hugged her so her arms were crossed in front of her chest. He held her body at a slightly tipped and twisted angle so her legs didn't have the room or leverage to kick back against him. "Sara, listen to me-" He quickly ducked his head aside as she tried to slam the back of her head against his face. He almost growled his frustration, and he tightened his grip on her wrists. Using that point of contact, he gently pressed against her mind, exerting his influence. He didn't make her sleep or usurp her control, but he did try to subtly settle her and lead her to a calmer frame of mind. "That's it, just settle down. I'm not going to hurt you." He felt her relaxing minutely in his grip, and relief began to ease through him - it could have been far worse. "It's okay, you don't have to be afraid." He changed his hold on her to try to make it feel like more of a comforting gesture than the shackles it was. He also seeded feelings of trust and comfort into her, just gently enough for her to think they were her own emotions rather than something being forced on her.

Suddenly, in a way that was reminiscent of a gong being hit by a train, he was forcefully and painfully ejected from Sara's mind. The shock was so intense, she tore herself from his grip before he could recover. Distantly, his ringing ears could almost hear a sound like the TARDIS materialising, but he tried to push the confusion aside as his eyes searched for Sara.

She was standing on the cloud again, close to the edge, too far from his reach. "I'm Not going with you again!" she spat venomously. But she took a step too far, and her balance wavered.

"No!" he cried reaching forward in desperation, but he was too late as she tumbled from his sight.

**Author's Note: **Thanks for the interest. I hope you will continue to follow Azaadin's story when she posts under the title Shae. Thank you to Our Brightest Star for giving me some much needed advice. It was greatly appreciated in terms of the last chapter. As for a couple of the guest reviews, it is really difficult to respond if you don't log in, but to that person, Afterimage was revised essentially and reposted under Worlds Within Worlds. We thought the beginning flowed better but it's the same premise. Thank you for all your interest.


	3. Frozen

His instinct was to run to the edge, to reach for her, but he forced himself to turn the other way, sprinting back up the invisible staircase.

"Let me out!" Shae's voice came from the locked TARDIS. He could hear her fists hammering against the doors.

In a swift motion, he unlocked the doors and rushed into the console room, snagging Shae's wrist on the way and pulling her from the exit as the doors fell closed behind him.

"You. Locked. Me. In!" she yelled at him accusingly. Then her eyes seemed to see him properly, and she glanced back towards the door. Her voice was worried and fearful as she spoke again. "Where's Sara?"

He ran around the console, working furiously. "She fell," he told her simply in a monotonous voice.

"No!" She turned ran back to the doors and started hammering on the again, frantically shaking them and turning the useless lock. "We have to _Help_ her!"

"We are!" he assured her. "I shouldn't. It's dangerous. But I heard the TARDIS." He now knew that what he heard wasn't his imagination.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Shae's face light up. "So you've already saved her?" Her expression turned commanding, like a scolding mother. "Then hurry up!"

He winced at how instinctively she seemed to understand the dilemma of crossing timelines, but he pushed his musings to the side to deal with later.

He sprinted back to the doors and opened them - just in time to catch Sara who fell into his arms. "Gotcha!" he said, before slamming the doors shut again and sealing them safely inside. He let Sara drop limply to the floor, although he controlled her descent enough so she wouldn't get hurt. He immediately ran back to the console and sent them into the Time Vortex. He wouldn't make the same mistake again.

He turned his attention back to Sara. Shae was already by her side, comforting the other woman. Sara's eyes were wide and her whole body was shivering - a combination of adrenaline and terror. The Doctor closed his eyes and took a deep breath, opening his eyes again as he released it. How was he going to deal with this?

Shae put her arm around Sara's shoulders but as the Doctor turned to examine them, she paid him a look of quiet resentment before gazing back at Sara, falling quiet. The girl nearly died in her desperation to escape him and the Doctor almost facilitated it while at the same time, locking her inside.

She shivered remembering how he immediately dragged her away from the door. Was Sara really right? She never wanted to be back with her son, her family as desperately as she did in that moment. But if they were gone….Shae's breath hitched in her throat. Sara had talked about God describing her friend's death. Last words that were said to her. It had been a while since Shae had been to church but distant memories flickered in her mind. The voice of her grandmother. _And the righteous are taken away to be spared from evil._

Is that what happened if the universe was gone? Was her family taken away to be with God? _But what about me? Why didn't I go with them? _Shae pressed her lips together as tears started to come to her eyes. _Was I not righteous?_

"I need you both to listen to me." The Doctor said.

"Or what?" Sara wrapped her arms around herself, suppressing the chills that were erupting on her skin. "Wait, let me guess. You'll lock us in a room? Strap us down to a bed?" She clenched her fists together. "Command us to sleep if we don't behave? Already know you did that once…oh, and you lied about it." She shook her head with fervency. "Something's never change, do they?"

He looked at the volatile girl before him, remembering how she resisted his telepathic control. A human should have had no such defences, not that all humans were comparable . A rare few were immune to hypnotic suggestion but he had been able to impart surface commands to Sara up to the point where she willfully broke free. That alone was a cause for concern. If she manifested such an ability with her energy signature, Shae might too and now both women appeared temperamental towards him.

"I'm sorry, Sara." He glanced at Shae who was doing her best not to make eye contact. "I truly am. For what happened. For what you both may have lost." The Time Lord crouched down in front of them so he appeared less intimidating, keeping his expression even as he clasped both hands together in front of him. "I'd like to try to help if you let me."

"Help." Sara repeated. "By locking us up." She closed her eyes desperately wanting to erase the sight of the console room from her vision. It was a sign of everything she detested, her lack of freedom, every shred of independence she had being torn away from her. To make matters worse, Shae was now about to experience the very ordeal she went through. Sara had wanted to spare her from this insanity but in the end she failed. _Just like Christina. My responsibility. My fault. _"I'm sorry." She whispered to Shae, knowing the Doctor could hear her but nonetheless, she had to say it. Maybe someday Shae would forgive her.

The alien paused hearing Sara's muttered regret and seeing the bleak expression on Shae's face, he reached out to take her hand in support but Shae moved, taking her own hand just beyond his grasp. He grimaced.

"Yes, I can help because I don't know if you've noticed but I'm no longer the Time Lord Victorious." He attempted to offer a smile. "Just me. The Doctor. And if you take a bit to get to know me you'll find-"

Sara shook her head frantically. "You don't get it. I don't want to get to know you because you're still HIM!" She leapt to her feet as Shae suddenly glanced up at her in surprise. "So if you actually care and you _really _want to help us, take us back to our time and let us go." She inhaled briefly. "Do that and who knows? Maybe I'll consider it."

"Sara," He started calmly. "Shae." He stood up as he went to lean against the console, pondering how he would extricate himself from this very difficult situation. He never expected it nor wanted it. The human ran into him and he couldn't help but overhear her. "Dr. Walter Simeon has seemed to taken an interest in you and I suspect, Sara you know the reason why. People…creatures just like him will use either of you for information or the energy you're carrying."

"We would have gotten away." Sara protested.

"Would you?" The Doctor unfolded his hands, open them wide while shrugging his shoulders. "My associates told me he has made quite a few disappear. What knowledge of the snow you have, believe me he knows more."

Briefly she closed her eyes and shuddered. It was a reminder of everything she was trying to escape. These horrendous adventures she had been forced to endure before and she felt her hands tremble. "I just want to go home." Her voice was faint.

"I know." The Doctor's voice was gentle. "But if it's true what happened to your reality…" His voice trailed as he started to see tears come to Sara's eyes. "I'm sorry. I am, but right now, the TARDIS is the safest place for you and Shae. I promise I won't lock either of you in a room and why would I? The ship is infinite. I would say you should have plenty of room to-"

"We can't." Sara's voice rang with finality. "I just can't do it anymore. I nearly…." She started to shudder at the memory of her suicide attempt in her former bedroom she had been confined into by the Time Lord Victorious. "I can't."

The Doctor frowned seeing the very state Sara was in. Shae wouldn't even look at him and he started to pace thinking about both the women now in his charge. The pain they suffered, so like the Doctor's own. This was never the way he liked to garner a companion. He wasn't even looking for a passenger but here they were. His hands pressed against the console. The decision was his. He could lock them inside the TARDIS indefinitely and be justified in doing it. _How would that make me any better then that dimensional duplicate? _He told them he was no longer the Time Lord Victorious. Perhaps now he needed to prove it.

"What else do I have to do?" He asked aloud, remembering how he'd just lost his whole family. "Earth, I assume." He started working the controls. " What year?"

Both Sara and Shae looked up at him, their eyes wide as breath suddenly stilled in Sara's throat. Was he actually going to let them go? That meant…hope filled Sara for the first time in the past several weeks. _He's going to take us to our time period and drop us off. Come back here to do this alone like he should. _Sara wanted nothing more then to believe in this possibility.

"I think 2010 is fine." Sara glanced at Shae who provided a brief shrug in acquiescence.

"And where to?"

That was a challenging question. Sara was from Seattle while Shae lived in Sydney but maybe going to her home country on an alternate world would be too much of a painful reminder for Shae. Sara in that moment was flexible if the other girl wanted to live in Australia, she could adapt to life in another country. After all, before she had been thrust into this world, it was a place she always wanted to visit.

"Shae…" She started.

"Going to need to find us a home big enough for all three of us." The Doctor muttered as he stared at the screen. "Can't really compare to the TARDIS but we'll try to make do." He glanced at Shae and briefly rubbed his hands together. "You lived in Sydney, eh? Always wanted to try that. Living there. Maybe take up playing cricket once again. Ooooh, I love pavlova. Don't know if I tasted it with this mouth." He spoke referring to this regeneration.

Sara and Shae were struck silent. He wasn't going to release them from the TARDIS with a handshake and a bid farewell. No. His intention was to stay with them on Earth in that timeframe to supervise them. Sara felt her heart start to fall. He was _never_ going to leave them alone.

Sara spoke first with increasing reluctance realizing also the certain consequences of what would occur if the Doctor didn't return to resolve the events they had started to experience in the Victorian era.

"Doctor…..we…" She paused and then shook her head. He couldn't contemplate grounding himself. Not right now. Once those events had resolved and he took them back to the future, a plan could be conceived where Sara and Shae could disappear once the door was opened. If the Doctor had difficulty locating Clara Oswald in the modern time, they might stand a chance of eluding him.

"You what?" He hadn't activated the time rotor, glancing at the girls with keen intellect, awaiting their decision.

"Walter Simeon." Sara said finally. "You have to deal with him first. There's a paradox and he's…." She shook her head. "We can't leave right now." Her voice was faint. "He'll kill everyone. Destroy the world."

The Doctor gave a brief sigh of relief. His little strategy might work after all as he began setting the coordinates back to Victorian England. Since both girls were precognitive, he had no doubt they felt the paradox. The impending disaster that was about to take place but he kept his face even and nodded. "Then we'll deal with Walter Simeon. No running off this time, either of you, eh?" That being said, he would have to take them with him. If Sara was so precognitive as to manipulate the doors…he briefly shuddered as to the consequences of leaving either one inside his TARDIS unsupervised. He might need to utilize Vastra and Jenny in this situation.

"Shae," The Doctor was addressing the other woman. "Perhaps you would like to go to the wardrobe. Get a fresh change of clothes." Her modern clothing was likely to cause a riot.

Shae didn't respond to him. Her face was turned slightly away refusing to even acknowledge him. From where he was standing, he could see the betrayal that still covered her face and he grimaced to himself. She had been so full of wonder and delight when he first brought her into the TARDIS, and it had only taken moments to destroy that joy. His eyes flickered between the two of them and he sighed internally. Unless he wanted the rest of their lives to be miserable, he was going to have to work hard to get them on his side. They might be willing to stay with him long enough to prevent a paradox, but he had little doubt that that was all that was keeping them in check.

"Come on," Sara whispered, pulling Shae along with her. Together they slowly entered the labyrinth that was the TARDIS. The Doctor didn't offer them directions to the wardrobe, nor did they ask for such. If they got lost in the TARDIS for a while away from him, they were okay with that.

"I can't believe him!" Shae seethed after a few minutes of walking. "He's not supposed to be like this. He's supposed to be nice."

Sara waited quietly. She didn't need to remind Shae that he wasn't 'nice'. He'd already proved that. Shae just needed the opportunity to work through the truth.

"I'm sorry," Shae told her after another moment.

Sara looked at her with surprise and guilt. "It wasn't your fault. I was the one who got his attention." She shook her head. "It's _my_ fault we're stuck here…"

"No, I didn't mean that." Sara saw Shae's eyes glint with something, like steely determination. "I'm sorry I didn't believe you about him. You were right, but I didn't want to listen."

"Don't worry, we'll get out," Sara promised. "When this is all over and he goes to the future looking for Clara, we'll find a way to sneak out. He'll be distracted and we'll get away! Once we're in our own time, we'll be able to find somewhere to hide. Maybe Donna or Jack or Sarah Jane…" Sara's voice trailed off as she thought of the possibilities. Donna had helped her in the last universe, maybe she could help them again.

Shae shook her head. "It wouldn't work. They're all too loyal to the Doctor. And Donna doesn't remember anything."

"She helped my last time," Sara objected. "And we never saw Jack with this Doctor, maybe they had a falling out."

Shae nodded, but Sara could tell that it was a hollow gesture. She could almost feel the hopelessness pouring off the other woman. She'd just about given up.

The girls walked on aimlessly for a few more minutes, until Shae stopped and leaned heavily on against the wall. Sara turned back to her and her heart twisted as she saw her friend's expression. "Is it true?" she asked, her voice broken and bitter.

Sara gently placed her hand on the grieving woman's shoulder. "I'm so sorry," she whispered.

Shae slowly sank to the floor, her sobs coming out as shattered gasps as she clutched at her chest. She shook her head in denial, but nothing could stop the pain. Her chest felt like it was about to break open, and only by squeezing her arms tightly to her chest could stop herself from falling apart. She felt Sara wrapping her arms around her, but even that small offer of comfort did nothing to ease her grief. Every breath caused her body to shudder, and she could do nothing to lessen the keening sound she made as they were released.

Sara could think of nothing to say as comfort. What could she say when Shae's whole family, including her son, had been killed with the rest of their universe. As she held Shae tightly, She wondered how she would have felt had someone been there to support her. She internally shook her head. The Time Lord Victorious would never have been that person. But now, she could be there for Shae.

They sat huddled together for a few minutes before Sara felt the back of her neck prickling. She looked back down the hallway from where they'd come and saw the Doctor watching them, his expression reflecting Shae's grief. He met Sara's eyes and she minutely shook her head at him. He couldn't help; he would only make things worse. To her slight surprise, he turned and walked away from them again, giving them what little privacy he could offer.

"Come on," she gently urged the broken woman. "Let's make some tea before we do anything else."

Shae mutely acquiesced, allowing herself to be drawn to her feet.

xxxxxxxxxx

Meanwhile, the Doctor had returned to the console room with heavy hearts. He wanted to assure the girls that they were wrong, that there was no evidence that their universe had been destroyed, but if Sara was right, then his denial would only cause them more pain later. No, better to let them grieve now, and if he determined that their grief was unfounded then they could celebrate later. He checked the scans he'd already programmed into the console. He'd found a few interesting wobbles in time, and one tiny tear that had already sealed itself, a tear that was reminiscent for the energies he'd detected from the girls earlier, but nothing as glaringly catastrophic as Sara had described. Sara seemed to have been to a parallel reality, but Shae hadn't. If Shae had been brought straight from their universe to his, the residual energies of the crack she came through would verify Sara's story. But so far he hadn't been able to even find how Shae had fallen into his path, let alone find a tear that matched Sara's description.

He sighed to himself. He would be able to perform much more acute scans if he could investigate the girls and their strange energies readings more clearly. He could run some scans from the console room, but they weren't as specialised as the tests he could perform in the medbay. However, he needed to rebuild his rapport with them before he could convince them to accompany him for testing. Besides, they would be with him for a long time, and it would benefit him more in the long run to show a little patience.

He again looked at the results of his earlier scans. He could see that each girl had energies within them that were unique from the other, which made some sense if Sara had been trapped in a universe with his counterpart – she may have been exposed to something in his reality that accounted for the discrepancies between them – but somehow there were some wavelengths that he couldn't quite differentiate. He couldn't tell if it came from one or both of them.

He shook his head, thinking of the tests he would have to wait to run. Earlier, Shae might have gone willingly with him, but now? And Sara was bound to be a handful as well. He shuddered as he thought about the way Sara fought him, the way he almost lost her off the cloud. No, she wasn't going to make things easy for him at all. Perhaps, after he'd dealt with Doctor Simeon, it would be best to gently separate the girls, to approach each of them on their own rather than as a united front against him. He'd need to be careful, delicate, so they wouldn't be afraid when he came to them.

But first he needed to come up with a plan to keep them from running in Victorian London. He hoped that his promise to return them to the future afterwards would be enough, but he needed a backup plan just in case.

He rubbed his forehead in frustration. Nothing was ever easy. The universe treated him as a cruel joke. Over and over again giving him families he cherished, then painfully snatching them away. His own family on Gallifrey, taken before their time, and by his own hand. And his human family, his frail little family. No, he decided he wouldn't do it anymore. He wouldn't accept more people into his life just to lose them again, just for them to die. Yet, once again, the universe was forcing his pain to repeat itself, this time in the guise of Sara and Shae; two more fragile humans who would only live to die on him. His thoughts returned to his new passengers, and his recognised their kindred pain. They too were grieving the loss of everything they'd known and cherished. Perhaps, just maybe, that would give them grounds to come to some sort of understanding, perhaps even a friendship. He shuddered at the thought of supervising these girls for the next few decades if they remained stubbornly reticent against him.

He flicked a switch on the monitor, and checked their location on his ship. They were moving away from the kitchenette where they'd gone after his brief interruption. He thought back on Shae's grief in that hallway, so like his own. But Sara had been right to warn him away. Given the look of betrayal he'd seen on Shae earlier, his intrusion on her grief would not have been a welcome addition. He changed some settings on his console, temporarily relocating the wardrobe in their path. He would solve this problem of Simeon and the snow, and then he would help his new companions as they adjusted to their new lives with him. He didn't doubt that they would resist, but humans were the great adaptors, and he would find a way to make it work.

xxxxxxxxxx

Sara successfully managed to blend together a loose leaf variation of English Breakfast with Chai for the spice before handing a steaming cup to Shae as she put the kettle in the sink. Taking out a container of whole milk with a bowl of sugar she put it on the table while only measuring a small dash of the former in hers.

"Thank you." Shae's voice was bleak. "I didn't think there were that many tea drinkers in the states." She grimaced briefly as she sipped from her cup.

"Coffee makes me nauseous but my friend Jessica used to love it." She gripped tightly to the mug, her mind also inevitably straying to the family she would never see again. "In Seattle, we had two coffee places on every street corner and rain or shine…." Sara shook her head. "I loved it either way. When I first arrived in London, the weather reminded me a bit of home."

"I've never been to London before." This variation of London was hardly Shae's ideal and she shivered. "I was planning to go when Jesse was a bit older. Maybe see…" Her voice trailed as she considered her previous desire to see the film locations for the show. Now, in the dreaded reality of the circumstance, it seemed a frivolous notion.

"I'm sorry." Sara told her gently. "Sorry that the Doctor isn't who you thought he was." She certainly wished it could have been different but experience was a great teacher. Sometimes she wondered whether her own contrary attitude against the show was what sent the other Doctor down the path of the Time Lord Victorious causing him to become wretchedly stuck in that degree of thinking.

Shae pushed away from the table, staring at the cup in her hand listlessly. Her own grief made it difficult to concentrate and it was difficult to feel any sense of optimism for the future. If they did survive what Walter Simeon had planned, then what? If by some chance they extracted themselves from the Doctor, she would be nearly entirely on her own again in an unknown Earth struggling to survive. She took a deep breath. In contrast to the horrific account Sara had already given, that was likely preferable then psychological torture.

"Come on." Sara's voice was faint. "Let's get this over with."

Of course, period specific clothing had to be found for Shae and it seemed the corridors reconfigured so the Wardrobe Room was directly across from them. Venturing inside, they were able to make distinctions of the clothing by the decade of style. Both women went through a change of clothes since the attire Sara was wearing was considerably damp. Nothing could prepare Shae for the actual torment of wearing a corset and having the laces tighten around her ribs. Her chest and torso ached from the device and she had to resort to shallow breathing since her lungs refused to expand.

"Do I really have to wear this?" Shae protested and Sara grimaced in result.

"The bodice of the dress won't fit without it." Sara informed her. "And if you go without a corset they might think you a prostitute."

The severity of the clothing seemed to match those ideas as they put on dresses appropriate for 1890's London that were high neck with silver clasps, dropping to long A-line waists since bustles apparently had gone out of fashion in the 1880's. Sara could only account that Clara's dress was a few years old and not in keeping with the trends. Removing two cloaks from their respective hangers, she handed one to Shae. "Are you ready?"

Shae frowned. She didn't want to face seeing the Doctor again but eventually knew she had no choice. It didn't mean, however, she had to speak to him after the betrayal she suffered. Briefly, she looked to Sara and nodded as they made their way out to the console room where he had apparently been waiting, his clothing changed. Sara's mind flickered in recognition. Sherlock Holmes. Apparently, this was when he would choose to confront Dr. Simeon and find the Great Intelligence lurking right inside. Briefly, she shook her head. She didn't like how he was about to make a mockery of the character from her favorite television show.

"What's wrong?" He asked, hardly missing her reaction to his change of attire.

"Nothing." Sara said, closing her eyes. Shae simply looked at her feet and the Doctor sighed. Gesturing towards the door, it opened and he watched them carefully as they walked outside proceeding towards the staircase. The trip downwards proved uneventful as he adjusted the water vapour to allow them access to the ground. Both flinched as he rested his hands each of their forearms steering them directly to the path of the carriage where Strax was waiting. Sara immediately tried to jerk her arm away as he held firm.

"Let go." Her tone was a warning as her temper was rising.

"Sara, relax. I just need to make sure-"

"Of what?" She challenged. "I told you we had to go back. Obviously, it's in our best interest not to see the world wiped out by Dr. Simeon, so there's no point in running right now is there?" She shook her head. "Especially when you'll have your lackeys go and fetch us again." She tried to breathe. "Maybe Strax can toss a grenade in our direction!"

Strax, ever vigilant seemed to perk up at the mention of using explosives. "Will you be requiring weapon support today, sir?" He glanced at Sara suspiciously who was in the midst of her conflict with the Doctor. "Perhaps for the boy." He started to recommend as the Doctor turned on him in frustration.

"At the moment, Strax, all we require is transport to see Dr. Simeon." He briefly clenched his jaw as he led the girls inside. The night was not proving favorable as they began their progression to the destination of his newest adversary.

Shae silently watched the city roll passed her window. Like Sara, she had felt instantly revolted by his controlling gesture, but in contrast to the other, she gritted her teeth and allowed herself to be lead. There was no use resisting now, and if he thought she was complacent it might make it easier for her to get away in the future. That didn't, however, mean she had to voluntarily interact with him.

"I want you both to stay close to me," he was saying. "And if I tell you to do something, you do it straight away. I don't know what he wants with you yet, but I'd prefer not to find out the hard way."

Sara scoffed from his other side. "When is anything you do not the hard way?"

He simply stared at her. Despite Sara's unwillingness to allow him the satisfaction of thinking he intimidated her, she wouldn't meet his gaze. Using his name in her mind managed to break his light telepathic hold before but it had considerable side effects leaving her without entire control of all her faculties. What if the Doctor realized she had his name? He somehow didn't seem aware of it at the time but using the name had the same impact on this Doctor as it had on the Time Lord Victorious in the previous dimension. At any rate, it was one card she wanted to keep hold of for emergencies. _Maybe I should give it to Shae._ Sara thought looking at the other woman with compassion. No doubt the Doctor got inside her head. It would have been the only way to have calmed the girl down sufficiently to lead her back to the TARDIS and Shae had no such defense. However, it would have to wait until a prudent time when the two were alone and out of earshot. Of course, with the name, came all the inherent dangers so Shae needed to be fully informed.

"Sara," the Doctor tried again. "I really do want to help."

"Help." Sara repeated. "Your stupid time war destroyed our entire dimension." She closed her eyes, again struggling for a deep breath through the constricting corset. Tears came to Shae's eyes but she blinked rapidly as she fought to maintain focus on the scenery outside of the carriage. Sara continued on in the midst of her rant. "Oh that was so helpful. Everyone I ever loved, ever knew gone and I-"

"I lost my family too." The Doctor interrupted gently. "All of my children, my parents and my brother on Gallifrey." He paused. "You're both angry, I know but have you stopped to consider that we may have a bit in common?" His hands in a nervous gesture straightened his coat. "My human family were taken from me as well and I-"

"Wanted to be left alone." Sara finished. "And your friends respected your decision. Helped you. But you know what?" She shook her head. "You never bothered giving us that same choice." She gritted her teeth, inhaling through her nose. "I was tormented by your duplicate! He tortured me! He forced his way inside my mind and….." She couldn't help the tremors that broke out. "It hurt. It hurt so much. Leaving me in my room for days at a time. Pinning me to a bed….I wanted to die." She pressed her lips together. "I tried to…." She swallowed. Suicide was a mortal sin and the memory of the shadows coming off the walls to claim her…..briefly then, her mind reflected on the dream she had of the Eleventh version of the Doctor. In a nightmare, he was the Valeyard. In a dream, he attempted to offer consolation. Her brows furrowed in confusion. She was tremendously startled when the Doctor took her hand in his. Instantly, she reacted, trying to pull away but for the moment, he held firm.

"I'm sorry. I really am." He said with utter sincerity. "I would never do that to either of you. You have my word."

Sara's face became rigid only affording him a glare. "No. Too late. Your promises are worthless…." At this point, she knew better then to trust him. "You always lie. The Doctor always does."

This was going to be even more difficult then the Doctor could anticipate. Sara's complete ambivalence towards him and Shae's refusal to even acknowledge his presence. He finally released Sara's hand and she took up Shae's posture of staring out the window. He sighed. Despite what they thought of him, he still intended to keep his word, which meant grounding himself in one point of time in the Twenty First century. Given that scenario, he would have plenty of time to speak with each girl individually as he planned to before. Still, he cringed at the mere notion. He would need to establish identities, a residence where they could stay. What if they both wanted to work? He scowled inwardly. Trying to keep an eye on two willful charges at two different places of employment would be an added hardship. Also there was the consideration of whether they decided to start a relationship and a family. Their children could have the same intensive level of precognition. He could literally be stuck on Earth going through time the regular monotonous direction humans were so adapt to using for centuries.

_Best not get ahead of myself._ He still needed to run tests. Their abilities and gifts might be singular and not inherently linked to their chromosomes. The carriage was pulling to a stop and he took a deep breath as he opened the door, exiting first to ensure that both girls were directly within his line of sight.

"You both ready?" He asked.

"To watch you make a fool of yourself?" Sara said bitterly. "Sure."

"Oi! I am not making a fool out of myself." He protested with seeming indignation.

"You're dressed up as a fictional character to challenge the Gr-" Sara cut herself off as Shae squeezed her arm in reminder. "I mean Walter Simeon."

The Doctor's eyes narrowed minutely. Originally Sara hadn't been going to say 'Walter Simeon'. What else was behind this mystery of the snow, and just how much did these two know of it? He pushed the thought aside as he grasped the ornate doorknocker and firmly made his presence known to those within.

When the butler answered the door, he took in his clothing with unadulterated surprise and was just as incredulous as Sara by the identity the Doctor offered.

"I'll have you know Sherlock Holmes was a friend of mine. I knew him in my seventh regeneration and…." The Doctor was sputtering in an attempt to defend himself.

The servant who had quickly raced ahead through the door where Walter Simeon was located was heard to announce, "Sir, it's Sherlock Holmes."

The Doctor keeping a firm grip on both the girls entered the room to approach his adversary who merely looked back at him with introspection, then at both the women with keen interest in his expression.

He quickly scanned the room with his eyes. "Oh, nice office!" he exclaimed, then he locked his gaze with the cold glare of Walter Simeon. "Big globey thing." He deliberately drew his companions to the centre of the room by the large desk before carefully dropping their wrists. He lifted the cane that he'd hung on his arm as he entered and began waving and pointing it for emphasis. "Now, shut up, don't tell me! I see from your collar stud you have an apple tree and a wife with a limp. Am I right?" He ignored Sara's distasteful groan as he took a few steps forward as he spoke to keep himself between Simeon and his wards.

"No." Simeon's voice almost seemed to drip with venom as he spoke. His expression was sour, even though a smirk hinted at his lips as his eyes played across Sara and Shae.

"Do you have a wife?" the Doctor demanded, drawing the other man's attention back to himself.

"No," Simeon replied in the same tone.

Shae trembled at the unexpected atmosphere in the room. The air somehow felt thick and heavy, like the damp before a thunderstorm, only more intimidating. Her eyes drifted to the giant snowglobe that she knew housed the Great Intelligence. On the show if was merely a cool looking prop, but as a reality she could almost feel the presence of a malevolent entity lurking as though just out of sight, just behind a screen. She shot a look to Sara, and from the other girl's eyes, Shae guessed she could feel the same sensation.

"Bit of a tree? Bit of a wife? Some apples?"

While the Doctor continued his charade, Sara stepped closer to her shivering friend. "Come on," she whispered. "Let's wait closer to the doors." She gently took Shae's hand and encouraged her to the other side of the desk, placing an extra barrier between themselves, the Great Intelligence and his minion.

The Doctor turned and approached the desk once more, collecting one of the business cards into his fingers. His eyes briefly met Sara's and he nodded slightly, as though approving of her subtle movement in the room. "I see this is one of your business cards," he said as he spun around. "It says so on the front."

Simeon had stalked towards the younger looking man, and he swatted the Doctors hand, snatching the business card from the irritating man. "Who are you, and what are you doing here?" he demanded.

The Doctor grabbed another card which he flashed in Simeon's face before secreting it in his pocket. "This!" he told the man darkly, then he rushed up to the giant snowglobe, brandishing his cane at it. "Wakey, wakey!" he roared, bashing the wooden stick loudly against the glass.

Simeon reacted instantly, moving the defend the equipment which house the formless creature in his office, speaking scathingly to the Doctor as he did so.

While Shae remembered the voice of the Great Intelligence on the show, nothing could have prepared her for the reality. She gripped her head as the heavy voice pressed itself into her mind, the telepathic sound drowning out the rest of the room. It was the same feeling of presence that she'd felt since they'd arrived, but the words were somehow cutting and painful as the weight of the words forced themselves into her thoughts. She distantly heard the Doctor speaking, but under the thick blanket that seemed to surround her, his voice held no meaning. Shae almost cried out when the monstrous entity spoke in her head once more.

By the time Shae's awareness began to settle back from the pressure against her mind, the Doctor was already pacing between the snowglobe and herself and Sara. Vaguely, she noticed that the Doctor didn't walk around the globe as he had done in the show. Instead he simply paced back and forth always keeping between the globe and the desk behind which they stood. Shae's eyes briefly followed Simeon as he stepped away from the Time Lord and approached the bell beside the doors through which they'd entered.

"Now, what are you, eh?" The Doctor continued, as though oblivious to everything else in the room. "A flock of space crystals? A swarm? The snowmen are foot soldiers, mindless predators. But you, you're the clever one. You're Moriarty. So, you turn up on a planet, you generate a telepathic field to learn what you can." As he spoke, even with his back turned, the Doctor pulled out his screwdriver and sonicked the doors Simeon waited by, locking out the help that he had summoned. "Ahh, of course, but that takes massive amounts of energy to maintain this form and the telepathic field, hence all these generators. So you need to either find yourself a source of unlimited power or to change into a more sustainable form. You need to translate yourself into something more, well, human."

Shae suddenly gripped Sara's arm as the Doctor's words registered to her.

His educated rant continued as he paced around the front of the globe. "These two have just arrived, so you've prepared the latter plan. But to do that you'd need a perfect duplicate of human DNA in ice form. Where do you find that?"

"But, that's wrong!" she whispered to Sara. "That wasn't the line from the show."

"This is why we can't be here," Sara told her equally softly. "Things change because we're here. Sometimes only little things, but sometimes…" She shook her head as she searched for the right words. "Think of how many times the Doctor saves the universe. But if we change things, and events don't happen like they should…"

While the Doctor was busy tossing Simeon's file onto the floor, Shae's jaw slowly dropped and her eyes widened as the realisation sunk into her. While Sara had already convinced her that they couldn't trust the Doctor, that he wasn't the Santa Claus like figure who loved and helped people with no ulterior motive like she'd thought from the show, she hadn't even considered the danger or them interfering with the Doctor's future. The episode 'Turn Left' rushed to the forefront of her mind, where one little variation lead to the death of the Doctor and so many lives were lost as a result of Donna's seemingly insignificant change of direction. What if they too changed something in the Doctor's life, bringing about the end of everything?

Suddenly, the Doctor silently launched himself over the desk, and grabbed their arms spinning them around. "Time to go!" he softly hissed.

Shae tried to keep her footsteps as silent as his, but the sudden spin had knocked her off balance and she tripped slightly, clattering her hard soled shoes against the wooden floor. In the corner of her eyes, she noticed that Sara was faring only slightly better than herself, and yet the Doctor insistently pushed them in front of him and through the doors through which sunlight streamed.

Xxxxxxxxxxxx

"I'm not leaving either of you in the TARDIS and that is final." His childlike face was nothing compared to his ancient eyes that took on an edge of firm determination as he stared down at his two reluctant passengers. Of course he couldn't take any chances. Sara knew how to get out of the TARDIS and much more, she could barricade him from entering his own time machine. From what he determined she was traumatized and suicidal. Given the information Shae had, her mental state could be in no better condition and he would not take a risk in losing another companion. Not so soon after losing the Ponds. He just couldn't.

"But you and Clara…" Sara's voice trailed. Her stomach clenched and her head already hurt fiercely from being in the presence of the Great Intelligence. She had already dealt with having one mind parasite inside her mind but feeling the powerful touch of another….she shivered.

"Clara and I, what?" The Doctor prompted.

Shae finally spoke, still not meeting the Doctor's eyes, staring past him directly at the console. "The two of you should do this alone." Her voice was flat. She didn't want to risk a paradox and the change in dialogue that occurred at Walter Simeon's home frightened her.

The Doctor was carefully reading between the lines. At least Shae was speaking to him. That was an improvement even if she didn't make eye contact. Maybe there was hope yet for the three of them or at least a faint trace of it. "So, Clara is that important, eh?"

The two girls remained silent as Shae leaned against the railing now refusing to answer. She was tired. The clothing only made it worse and she longed for nothing more then to close her eyes, fall asleep and have this be regarded as some nightmare for which she could duly wake up from.

The Doctor only adjusted a switch while pulling a lever before opening the door beckoning to his passengers. "Well, come on, then. Off we go. Sooner we look at the pond and see to Clara…"

"I told you, we don't want to go!" Sara exclaimed, folding her arms across her chest. Shae looked just as disagreeable about this particular venture.

The Doctor only exhaled slowly through his nose, leaning against the doorway, giving each girl a look. "Well then, if you're not going to go, neither am I." He kept his tone light. "I s'pose the three of us will just sit up here and while away the time." He paused for a moment. "What do you think? Said yourself there was a big open paradox right there but you know me." As acutely precognitive as these girls were, that statement couldn't have been more accurate. He snapped his fingers as the door shut and he walked to the center. "Any of you want ice cream? I know humans love ice cream. I have over three hundred flavors on board and-"

"Wait…." Sara was sputtering. "Ice cream?" She was aghast. "There's an entity out there that wants to destroy the world and you want to eat ice cream?"

"Nothing better to do if you two are going to stay right here." He was looking directly at her, the innate depths showing clearly in his eyes. "So what about it? Take a look at a pond or we all decide what's our favorite flavour. Mine is-"

"Fine!" Sara gritted her teeth exchanging a look with Shae. Perhaps they had forgotten how obnoxious this Doctor was in this regeneration. How purely intransigent he could really be. Or how manipulative. Still, neither could let the universe be destroyed because of their inaction or the Doctor's. _When we get back to current times… _Shae might be disheartened by their chances but that didn't mean Sara would give up. If her sonic recharged in time….she shook her head and tried to focus. For now, what she needed was to play along.

The girls followed the Doctor begrudgingly down the staircase where he extended it to the ground. Some subtle manipulation of his sonic managed to shift the position by only the slightest proportion of degrees just in case Walter Simeon happened to show. If he knew the position of his TARDIS….the Doctor briefly shuddered.

Sara and Shae kept a fair distance back as the Doctor carefully started to examine the frozen pond beneath his feet.

"Body frozen in pond." He muttered to himself. "The snow gets a good long look at a human being like a full body scan. Everything they need to evolve." The Doctor looked thoughtful. "Pond." He nodded to himself. "Good point, Clara." He suddenly turned as they heard footsteps behind him. "What are you doing here?"

It was Strax who was proudly and aggressively holding a large and very fearful looking weapon.

"Madame Vastra wondered if you were needing any grenades?" The Sontaran asked eagerly.

"Grenades?" The Doctor asked doubtfully.

"She might have said help." Strax admitted reluctantly.

As they continued to argue, Shae and Sara looked up at the window to see Clara's very familiar face gazing at all of them in confusion. It wasn't until the Doctor finally made eye contact with her, appearing flustered when he found himself waving back in return to her gesture, telling her five minutes and the girl in return smiled, disappearing from the window.

The Doctor was shaking his head apparently angry at his own immediate response, gazing at his hand in some resolute indecisiveness. After a few moments, he promptly came to a decision. "Right. We go around back through the servant quarters." He immediately took Sara and Shae's arms, propelling them around the house as they barely struggled to keep up. "It's best to keep a low profile."

"Must be next to impossible with you." Sara muttered under her breath.

"Oi, I know what I'm doing," he replied indignantly, pausing briefly as they reached the plain door. He shot the girls a frustrated glare as they snickered at his assertion, but he ignored them in favour of unlocking the door with his screwdriver.

They entered into a narrow plain hallway that extended into the middle of the house. The Doctor glanced through some of the doors as Sara and Shae reluctantly followed. After checking the rooms off the dimly lit hallway, the Time Lord backtracked toward the laundry which had been behind the first door he'd opened. To his right a dark steep staircase extended into the upper level. "Bingo! Well, come on, then," he called to his reluctant companions. He bounced up the stairs two at a time and then hovered impatiently at the top of the stairs for the girls who were finding it a little harder to make their way up the dark incline. The stairs were barely wide enough for them to squeeze their shoulders through, so they had to fight to pull their thick skirts through the narrow space, all the while concentrating on their balance and footing so as to not lose either.

The Doctor led the pair in the direction of the window they'd seen Clara in, however, on this level there were only three exits off the short servants hallway. Presumably two of these lead to rooms while the third opened towards the middle of the house, possibly into the main corridor. The Doctor peered into the room off the left side of the cramped hall, before silently sneaking inside. Sara went to follow him with Shae close behind her when the Doctor swiftly held his hand up to them, halting their actions. The Doctor was standing a few metres into the room, the only light illuminating him being the light streaming in from the window behind him. After spotting the puppet theatre near the door where they stood, Sara recognised it as the room where the Doctor first saw the ice woman. He was silently staring at the main door, his expression intent. In the silence, Sara and Shae recognised the faint sound of Clara screaming, just as she had in the show.

"Get back!" the Doctor ordered, then he dove behind the puppet theatre where he could observe without being seen. The two women stepped back and Sara quickly closed the door. A moment later, they heard Clara and the children rushing into the room.

Shae found herself frowning as she listened to the exchange in the room. The children sounded so much more frightened and desperate than they had been on the show, but that most likely came from these children living the danger rather than just acting it. Had Sara not been between herself and the door, she probably would have pushed into the room to try to help Clara comfort the children. She rubbed the dampness from her eyes, willing herself not to break.

"Frannie," The desperation in Clara's voice was evident. "Frannie, imagine her melting."

Shae released a shiver as Sara immediately clasped her hand from behind the door. Her heart was filled with dread. _What if something else goes wrong?_

"What?" Frannie's voice was filled with confusion.

"In your head." Clara said quickly. "Melt her."

"I can't!" Frannie exclaimed, hysteria plainly evident. The room was dropping several degrees in temperature as a horrible grinding was heard at the door. The governess was attempting to force it open despite Clara's efforts to barricade it.

"I'm getting _very _impatient!" Her dreaded voice echoed around the room as an encroaching threat and Sara blanched. Just listening to her was almost as frightening as feeling the presence of the Great Intelligence inside her mind. The burning, grinding sensation that still seemed to resonate even after they left the room. That entity, that thing had felt them both and still seemed to be reaching out for them. Sara closed her eyes briefly in recognition of the sensation. It felt like….like something she had experienced only weeks before in New Roman. The mind parasite. Christina….tears came to her eyes as she suddenly trembled.

"I'm getting impatient!" It was the morbid reminder of the governess as she started to force the door open. The children's cries of terrors were evident as she started to emerge and Shae let out a gasp only catching a glimpse. It was far worse then television could have ever encapsulated. Grey, mottled skin, peeling beneath the layers of ice. Eyes encrusted over in a death like stare. She swallowed arduously finding herself hardly able to breathe.

"You have been very naughty." The voice was louder now. Inhuman. Vicious. Nearly demonic in its undertones.

"What about the man?" The boy insisted plaintively to Clara. "You said the man was here. The cloud man!" He was back pedaling running smack into the wall. Suddenly, he turned, glimpsing both Shae and Sara and gasped. His eyes widening further at finding them secreted in that very room.

Seeing the terrified gaze of the little boy meeting her own, Shae couldn't restrain herself anymore. She knew that she shouldn't interfere with the episode, but she couldn't just abandon the children when she could shield them from the monster that approached them. Besides, what if just being there she and Sara had changed things so the Doctor could no longer defeat the ice lady?

Without another thought, she pushed past her friend and placed herself between Clara, the children and the ice sculpture from hell. At the worst, she could direct the three through the servant halls she and Sara had hidden in.

"Can you help us?" the boy asked behind her. "Where's the Doctor?"

"Doctor?" a voice from the puppet theatre called. Everyone turned to see Mr. Punch rubbing his hands together. "Doctor who?"

The puppet reached down and lifted the sonic screwdriver, using it to cause the woman to explode, casting ice throughout the room. Everyone flinched under the shower of the frozen debris, and the Doctor poked his head up in the cramped theatre. "That's the way to do it," he cried out for Mr. Punch in a ridiculous voice, then he continued his charade with the puppet, which included the kiss and being whacked in the face with the tiny wooden arms.

After untangling himself from the tiny puppet stall, he crouched down and scanned the melting remains of the monster.

"Where did she go? Will she come back?" the little girl, Frannie, asked.

"No, she's currently draining through your carpet," the Time Lord replied lowly. "And you two," he began, standing and turning on his two companions. "In future you stay out of sight until I tell you otherwise. You don't go blundering in when I've got everything under control!"

"Control?" Sara snapped. "That wasn't 'under control'. That was 'Mr. Punch'! The children were frightened. Why did you waste time playing with puppets?"

"Because the children were frightened," he replied angrily a hint of a smirk on his face from knowing he was right.

"Ahh..." Shae murmured in sudden understanding. She'd always been frustrated by the Mr. Punch's dialogue in the show, but seeing the children's smiles at the Doctor's ridiculous antics gave her a new appreciation for his action. He wasn't being silly simply because that was in character according to the whims of the writers, he was being kind, doing his best to help the children when they were frightened.

"See? She gets it." The Doctor clicked his fingers and pointed at Shae while not taking his eyes from Sara's.

Sara slowly turned to look at the children. They did appear a great deal less apprehensive likely by the Doctor's approach. She knew he had been a father once. _He also imprinted on a ten year old. _She sighed briefly and glanced at Shae. The other woman was clearly drawn to the children likely reminded of the boy she lost in their devastated dimension.

_And I didn't get it. _Sara thought bleakly. She always wanted to have a family. Children of her own. Briefly, she recalled the visit the eleventh Doctor paid her while she was comatose, still trapped with the Time Lord Victorious.

'_All I ever wanted was to have a normal life, have a career, get married, have children and in an instant, that was gone.' Her voice had been bitter in addressing the eleventh Doctor._

'_Do you want to know why?' He asked._

'_Why…?'_

Oh, she remembered the conversation when she had nearly committed suicide on that TARDIS but in reflection, what did the 'why' really matter? Would any explanation, however vast serve in giving her the life she wanted? _Just words. _She thought. _Empty words. _She might never comprehend the protective instinct around children having not been a mother herself. Maybe she had spent too much time in captivity that she could act little better then a feral cat who would openly scratch you if you get too close.

"Are you alright?" Shae asked, touching Sara lightly on the arm and Sara forced a nod, feeling down right selfish. Shae was coping with the loss of her own son. If Sara had been in her shoes, she knew she would want to run and vent that particular loss in some dark corner where no one would find her. She wouldn't be able to handle it. She would….Sara swallowed remembering how she hung from the side of the bridge. Her screams at the Doctor when she was told her universe had been obliterated. She hadn't even recognized her own voice.

"Yeah, it's just…" Her voice trailed. "I'm tired." Sara finally said. Indeed she was tired but not in the sense of weariness. She was tired of being considered a threat to the universe. An anomaly that had to be watched. Locked up. Now Shae was in the same predicament.

"I know." Shae looked at Sara, her attention now focused on her new friend and away from the children. She wouldn't risk saying anything else since she could sense the Doctor's eyes on them both as he stared at the mirror. She could see him in the back of her mind looking at them with intensity while he spoke with Clara. It felt as though that gaze could move directly through her and see to her very core. Those ancient eyes. She gave a faint shudder. Could they really get away as Sara seemed to suggest? Even if they got back to the modern day and got out of his line of sight, he still had a time machine. Sara mentioned a signal she emitted….she pressed her lips together. If there was only a way to block it. Still, getting a biodampner or perception filter wasn't easy and required more then a single visit to an electronics store. She doubted the Doctor would just leave them lying around for them to find.

"What is it?" Clara was asking worriedly. "What's wrong?" She noticed the intensity of the Doctor's gaze. "Who are they?" She gestured towards Sara and Shae. "Are we all in-"

"No." The Doctor cut her off. "It's just…" He shrugged. "I didn't know I'd put it on." He was adjusting his bow-tie, a flicker of a smile appearing on his lips. "Old habits." He nodded his head towards Sara and Shae. "These are my…." He was struggling to find the right word. Companions? They weren't there voluntarily no matter how funny or giddy he tried to be. Passengers? He frowned. The TARDIS called them 'strays' but he-

"It's cooler." Clara said as the Doctor was jerked out of his thoughts, looking back at the mirror.

"Yeah, it is, isn't it?" He felt a tinge of familiar enthusiasm run through him as he examined his bow-tie remembering the first time he grabbed one from a clothing line near Amy Pond's house. His little Amy Pond. _I always liked Amelia. _He fretted briefly. _Why did she change it to Amy? It sounds like…._He shook his head, knowing he was losing focus. "It is very cool." The Doctor said emphatically. "Bow ties are cool."

Sara rolled her eyes briefly. This wasn't her favorite show and she didn't understand how the Doctor could get so attached to a piece of clothing. Even the tenth Doctor who had a particular wardrobe didn't go around stipulating how awesome his tan overcoat was. The ninth Doctor didn't brag systematically about the spectacular elements of his leather jacket. _Maybe Time Lords really should never imprint on children._

Shae smiled briefly at the one familiar piece of dialogue. Now she knew he was attempting to calm the children. He certainly was the more silly in terms of regenerations but she could see how calculating he was. He wasn't disordered in terms of his actions but often allowed people to think he was. To set them off guard. To work his way beneath their defences so you didn't even know he was there until it was too late. Her smile faded away as she thought of how he so aptly manipulated her onto the TARDIS. It was so wholly different. Seeing him on the telly versus seeing him in real life, she wasn't just watching an actor recite his lines while acting like a child but seeing a centuries old alien so practised in the art of manipulation, that everyday he was giving a command performance.

"No." Clara insisted. "The room. The room's getting colder."

A distinct bulge was forming on the carpet just beneath them and Shae reacted, putting her arm up in front of the children, pushing them to the back of the room. Sara stumbled near towards the puppet theater as the Doctor stepped forward, evermore alert.

"She's coming back." The little boy cried out.

"What's she going to do?" Frannie was breathing hard glancing between Clara and Shae. "Is she going to punish me?"

Shae squeezed the girl's shoulder, shaking her head in answer as she watched the creature reform before her very eyes.

"Er, er," The Doctor moved forward immediately grabbing hold of Sara's wrist who yelped in protest while he dragged her away from the theatre towards the rest of the group. "We need to stay together." He told her sternly as she yanked her arm away, giving him a glare. One he missed, as he turned to examine the reanimated governess before him. "She's learned not to melt." He gritted his teeth. "Of course, she's not really a governess, she's just a beast." He looked at the children and nodded. "And she's going to eat you. Run!" Was the Doctor's fierce command.

**Author's Note: **I hope you're enjoying the story so far. It is certainly a different change of pace to write from the Eleventh Doctor however you must forgive us for trying to fill in certain plot holes or at least our attempts to do so. Please give us your feedback. Let us know what you think of our interpretation of the Eleventh Doctor. I know it might be a bit confusing with the other story, Living Fiction, etc. but the Great Intelligence here is simply using that singular avatar we saw in the show although he is an interesting nemesis.

Thanks for all your insight and of course to LovelyAmberLight for her inspiration although I do know the Eleventh Doctor isn't a favorite. Thank you to all your reviews.


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